Page 16 - IB April 2025

ICT ICT

CLOCK TICKS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA BANS LOOM IN THE ISLANDS

By Nic Maclellan such as the way unaccountable corporate owners have
distorted information flows. This is highlighted by Elon Musk’s
A ruling from France’s highest administrative court, the US$44 billion purchase of Twitter (now rebranded X), which
Conseil d’État, has criticised former Prime Minister Gabriel opened the way for more racist and white supremacist
Attal’s temporary ban on TikTok in New Caledonia. propaganda on the platform, in the guise of free speech.
The court ruled that Attal’s May 2024 decision to restrict
use of the popular social media app in New Caledonia failed Blocking TikTok in New Caledonia
to follow proper procedure. It declared that “the decision to TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing,
suspend the social network represented a disproportionate and discovering short videos. It’s widely used across the
infringement of the rights and freedoms of expression and globe, especially by young people, with the parent company
communication.” ByteDance claiming more than 1.6 billion monthly active users
Debate around the banning of TikTok in New Caledonia echo worldwide (including 170 million monthly users in the United
similar arguments in other Pacific nations, such as Papua New States). It’s estimated that 16,000 TikTok videos are uploaded
Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga. Without a total ban, many Western every minute of the day.
governments have also placed some limits on the use of the France’s short-lived decision to ban TikTok in New Caledonia
app on government devices, fearing that TikTok’s Chinese was taken by the Attal government in Paris, as riots erupted
parent company might access sensitive data. in Noumea on 13 May. As clashes spread between Kanak
When Pacific politicians have called for bans on Facebook, protesters and French security forces, Prime Minister Attal
TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, they’ve highlighted the declared a state of emergency on 15 May. He also decided
use of social media to share inappropriate material, from to restrict the use of TikTok, in an attempt to stop Kanak
pornography to racist hate speech or misogyny against women activists sharing online images (especially those ridiculing
and girls. Critics of such bans, however, note that social media anti-independence Loyalist politicians or suggesting the
is often used to share accurate information about political “forces of order” were involved in killing young Kanak).
corruption, nepotism or bad policy emanating from political Independence supporters had quickly used a range of social
leaders. media platforms to share images of the protests, including the
This tension between freedom of expression and social construction of roadblocks in parts of New Caledonia’s capital.
protection is overshadowed by deeper structural concerns, One TikTok video “Playing cat and mouse” showed French

16 Islands Business, April 2025