Alexis Delafontaine / Photo credits: Maeva Destombes / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
After having decided, within the framework of the state of emergency, to ban the social network TikTok in New Caledonia, the government is suspended from the decision of the Council of State which will have to decide this Tuesday morning on this decision and say whether it complies with the law.
After eight days of riots, Emmanuel Macron says he sees “clear progress” in the restoration of public order. A relative return to calm: the President of the Republic announced the deployment of military reinforcements to secure public buildings on the archipelago.
The government also took the decision to ban the TikTok application. The goal is to prevent rioters from sharing videos of their misdeeds. This is a first in France but this executive decision could well be called into question this Tuesday morning by the Council of State.
A government powerless in the face of rioters?
Censorship from the Council of State would be a setback for Gabriel Attal. Such a decision would force the government to abandon banning TikTok and demonstrate the powerlessness of the state to provide itself with the means to restore order. This decision would also constitute a victory for the Human Rights League, which initiated the appeal. Because in addition to forcing the government to bend, the association would prevent “an attack on fundamental freedoms”.
But Emmanuel Macron wants to be determined. The President of the Republic had already opened the door to banning TikTok during the riots in the summer of 2023 without taking the plunge. Gabriel Attal therefore hopes this time to obtain a first victory in an exceptional context and to be able, under jurisprudence, to ban the Chinese social network in mainland France if necessary in the future.