France Bans TikTok In New Caledonia (politico.eu) 48
In what's marked as an EU first, the French government has blocked TikTok in its territory of New Caledonia amid widespread pro-independence protests. Politico reports: A French draft law, passed Monday, would let citizens vote in local elections after 10 years' residency in New Caledonia, prompting opposition from independence activists worried it will dilute the representation of indigenous people. The violent demonstrations that have ensued in the South Pacific island of 270,000 have killed at least five people and injured hundreds. In response to the protests, the government suspended the popular video-sharing app -- owned by Beijing-based ByteDance and favored by young people -- as part of state-of-emergency measures alongside the deployment of troops and an initial 12-day curfew.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal didn't detail the reasons for shutting down the platform. The local telecom regulator began blocking the app earlier on Wednesday. "It is regrettable that an administrative decision to suspend TikTok's service has been taken on the territory of New Caledonia, without any questions or requests to remove content from the New Caledonian authorities or the French government," a TikTok spokesperson said. "Our security teams are monitoring the situation very closely and ensuring that our platform remains safe for our users. We are ready to engage in discussions with the authorities."
Digital rights NGO Quadrature du Net on Friday contested the TikTok suspension with France's top administrative court over a "particularly serious blow to freedom of expression online." A growing number of authoritarian regimes worldwide have resorted to internet shutdowns to stifle dissent. This unexpected -- and drastic -- decision by France's center-right government comes amid a rise in far-right activism in Europe and a regression on media freedom. "France's overreach establishes a dangerous precedent across the globe. It could reinforce the abuse of internet shutdowns, which includes arbitrary blocking of online platforms by governments around the world," said Eliska Pirkova, global freedom of expression lead at Access Now.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal didn't detail the reasons for shutting down the platform. The local telecom regulator began blocking the app earlier on Wednesday. "It is regrettable that an administrative decision to suspend TikTok's service has been taken on the territory of New Caledonia, without any questions or requests to remove content from the New Caledonian authorities or the French government," a TikTok spokesperson said. "Our security teams are monitoring the situation very closely and ensuring that our platform remains safe for our users. We are ready to engage in discussions with the authorities."
Digital rights NGO Quadrature du Net on Friday contested the TikTok suspension with France's top administrative court over a "particularly serious blow to freedom of expression online." A growing number of authoritarian regimes worldwide have resorted to internet shutdowns to stifle dissent. This unexpected -- and drastic -- decision by France's center-right government comes amid a rise in far-right activism in Europe and a regression on media freedom. "France's overreach establishes a dangerous precedent across the globe. It could reinforce the abuse of internet shutdowns, which includes arbitrary blocking of online platforms by governments around the world," said Eliska Pirkova, global freedom of expression lead at Access Now.
Amazing! (Score:2)
Someone discovered a relationship between gasoline and flammable materials!
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Re:Shame (Score:5, Informative)
France is a colonial master in New Caledonia. That's not in doubt.
It's just that it's a liked one by the majority of population. Three referendums down, and it's basically one ethnic group voting to secede in the name of the nationalist socialist ideology of envy of its betters, and everyone else voting to stay. That one nationalist and socialist ethnic minority is violent and intolerant towards outsiders. It's also so phenomenally low IQ on average that it actually generated an idea that a great way to protest losing referendum after referendum would be to... sabotage all the food retailers, preferably by burning them down after looting them. It's the same problem that Zulus have in South Africa. Low average IQ population, incapable of grasping consequences of their actions keep terrorizing the very people trying to make their communities a better place, following a nationalist socialist leadership.
New Caledonia will actually need to rebuild food distribution while relying on French for food aid now because of them.
I'm sure that's going to make the majority like the violent minority literally causing localized risk of starvation more, and hate the French that will have to feed the populace less. It's going to work somehow. How? Why would you ask, that involves logic, a tool of oppression by colonialist, white man loving fascism.
In before far leftists start screaming that nationalism and socialism being opposites. The guilty party is literally called "Kanak Socialist Nationalist Liberation Front". Because it's just that. It's ethnosupremacist, socialist and nationalist party. And like its ideological brethren across the globe, it's highly xenophobic, highly prone to terrorism and primarily liked by populations where median IQ is too low to grasp abstract concepts like "if I do X, what will be the likely consequences of it?" That's why Zulus keep looting stores opened by Pakistani families to serve them, right after publicly raping said Pakistani families to death. In the name of the exact same ideology.
French are probably the worst colonial masters to have. Just look at Haiti as a good example as to why. But replacing them with yet another nationalist socialist party who's rank and file are the typical low IQ high aggression mobsters is a recipe for something far, far worse. Which is why majority people voted against them several times. In spite of campaigns of terror. And these mobsters are easily riled by professional agitators on social media.
My personal favourite to come out of this mess is the fact that Azerbaijan is now paying French back for the support of Armenia (largely due to influential Armenian diaspora in France). Yup, protesters/looters actually supposedly waved some Azerbaijani flags in New Caledonia, half a world away. And Azeris are running a weird forum for "victims of French colonization" or something among those lines. As far as geopolitical vengeance goes, that's a pretty good shot after the mess with Nagorno-Karabakh and French support for it. You help our enemies take over our territory? We're going to help your enemies take yours now.
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Perhaps the British. Remember the famine induced by Milton Keynes in Bangladesh in order to reduce the price of iron during the first World War. Millions died. More than in the Congo. Neither were moral choices. But picturing the Belgians as the only ones guilty at the time of murderous intent is historically inaccurate.
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British are by far the best colonial masters there were. Not even a conquest. Ending global slavery alone was an achievement without peer, and their ability to give just enough autonomy but not too much meant they weren't brutal like Spanish, overbearing like French or completely hands off letting locals just revert to original culture and do black magic rituals en masse like Belgians.
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Ending global slavery alone was an achievement
Britain didn't end global slavery.
The Royal Navy ended the trans-Atlantic slave trade, but slavery continued in the British Empire, and the trans-Sahara slave trade continued.
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Global slavery by definition required use of the sea. Britons ended use of the sea for slave trade. Ergo, Britain ended global slavery. Only local slavery remained.
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famine induced by Milton Keynes in Bangladesh in order to reduce the price of iron during the first World War.
John Maynard Keynes, not Milton Keynes.
It was WW2, not WW1.
And he was not trying to reduce the price of iron.
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Yeah, no. That meme came from a single book by an activist with an axe to grind. No a couple of thousand of Belgians who were almost all high ranking bureaucrats in the capital didn't amputate millions of hands in far away regions in a few years, and they ordered the exact opposite. Locals just didn't have to listen to them, so they didn't. And no, it wasn't done in the name of rubber harvesting either. There are many first hand accounts that book in question claims support its claims which when you actuall
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Do you know why schools you couldn't make into, instead having to take this sad job trolling one of the less popular sites on the internet, ask people to show their work? So they can understand the path you took and judge it for themselves.
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No colonial masters even approach the Muscovites. Belgians did what -- 5-10 millions -- in total? That's on part with just Holodomor alone (4-5 millions in occupied Ukraine, 8-9 millions including neighbouring areas) which was Soviet Army robbing all food from people at gunpoint in 1932-33. But, that's only a single action; we're talking about an empire that didn't have a decade without a new genocide through over a century.
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How to spot a far left propagandist: first step is lying about the numbers. Knowingly, as demonstrated by the third sentence which notes "last" before "referendum".
There were three referendums agreed, and three referendums held. Plural. All three returned the same result. Nationalist Socialists and their allies voted to secede, and everyone else voted to stay. Nationalist Socialists and their allies, understanding that they will lose the last one just as they lost the two previous ones, decided to boycott t
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Totally. I disagree with your pop history and numbers are obviously small when they don't suit you and supermassive when they support your views. Since I seem to be going by the numbers, and they disagree with you, I must have an Agenda, capital A.
In reality, you're projecting. My only agenda, lower case a, is finding out what is actually happening under the narrative. In this case, that's not actually hard.
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French are probably the worst colonial masters to have
Go tell that to Palestinian people
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There are just acting to an ongoing information warfare attack. It would be odd to let Azerbaijan keep attacking them.
Center Right isn't the proper definition (Score:3)
Of course these self-described geniuses are the very reason for the riots in New Caledonia. When back in 2021 they were asked to postpone by a few months the third (and last) referendum about independence because of COVID, they refused, leading to no more than around 43% turn-out ( the second referendum had over 80%). And now, rather than negotiating the way forward with those who want independence (around 50% of the locals, Natives and later arrivals) they buldoze this law through (with the help of the Far Right MPs).
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It would be much more accurate to call it Far-Center. It might be counter-intuitive, but it does describe something very specific : a government made up of so-called technocrats who hate nothing more than democracy
Indeed, they are the center, hence in their own view they are balanced and moderate. Everyone else is an extremist, this is why there is no place for discussion.
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We value everyone's opinion and point of view, as long as it is right.
Re:Center Right isn't the proper definition (Score:5, Informative)
When back in 2021 they were asked to postpone by a few months the third (and last) referendum about independence because of COVID, they refused, leading to no more than around 43% turn-out ( the second referendum had over 80%).
What you are not saying: the pro-independence party are the ones who called the third referendum (as it is their right according to the 1998 Noumea Accord), then changed their minds (during the COVID situation due to, in their view, the need to mourn their dead). The problem is the Noumea Accord does not include provisions for France postponing the referendum. Whatever the result of a delayed referendum, the losing party would contest the result in highest courts, arguing France violated the Noumea Agreement, in a way that never can be corrected (since it would be obviously too late to repeat the referendum at the correct date in the past, and there is no provision for a fourth one).
The half lower turnout resulted from a boycott from the pro-independence party (following their dissatisfaction with the date), while the pro-Union showed up normally.
And now, rather than negotiating the way forward with those who want independence
How exactly do you want them to negotiate? It's either independence or it is not. The referendum provided a result: Union, and consequences need to be taken. The situation previous to the referendum was a democratic anomaly. The Noumea Accord specified that the referendums would be taken after a number of years, but keeping the same voting population. Therefore citizen who had joined the island after 1998 were deprived from right to vote leading to ever ageing and shrinking voting population and really an anomaly.
The new version of the law limits right to vote to people established in the island for longer than 10 years, still making it a democratic anomaly, but at least making it sustainable for the decades to come, until any future agreement can be reached.
The whole situation is certainly regrettable and we wish it could have been solved to everyone's satisfaction regarding the date of the referendum. But the fact is the pro-independence formally asked France tor organize the referendum and then retract without any formal right to do so, and that's not the fault of France.
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So you're either a Caldoche (descendants of the colonists, for those who don't know) or a supporter of Macron. That does limit your credibility.
I used "we" in this case because I believe this part of the sentence to be consensual. I would rephrase as "Everybody wishes it could have been solved through a common agreement on the referendum date". Everybody because: the pro-independence obviously wanted a different date; and the other involved did not mind the different date either. Keeping the original date for the referendum... "indeed is extremely harsh, but thus was the law written" (usually quoted as Dura lex, sed lex).
I don't see why political v
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As for the hate of democracy, that has been amply demonstrated ever since 2017 : use of force against demonstrators on a level never seen before in a so-called democratic country, use of the 49.3 clause to pass major laws with no parliament votes on an unprecedented scale (the only time something similar happened was back in 1
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He was precise.
"So you're either a Caldoche (descendants of the colonists, for those who don't know) or a supporter of Macron. That does limit your credibility."
No, it doesn't. You didn't even challenge him factually.
"in case of a proper pro-remain victory"
That's what happened. One side foolishly not voting doesn't make the other side's victory improper.
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Not precise enough: the phrasing suggested complete disenfranchisement when it mostly pertained to the referendum only.
in case of a proper pro-remain victory" That's what happened. One side foolishly not voting doesn't make the other side's victory improper.
When a government is warned well in advance that circumstances necessitate a minor change and ignores it, they create a crisis situation. Democracy isn't the enforced rule of the many (1/2 +1), it's a system where most everyone
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No, your ad-hoc retro criteria doesn't mean anything. You're just making it up. An election was called, an election was held. People were able to show up and vote. Them choosing not to vote is their freedom but doesn't not invalidate the results of the election.
" it's a system where most everyone agrees to respect the decisions taken and consent
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However I did have a couple of Caldoche classmates back in highschool. The one time we talked about New Caledonia, I was struck by how much of their point of view on the situation there was cookie cutter colonist stand point: before the European arrived, the locals didn't make anything of the land, making it a terra nulla as it were but now the 'lazy locals wanted to steal them back after the Caldoches had done all the hard work. At the time, I just couldn't believe how m
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What is so alarming is that there are a surprisingly large proportion of Americans who think the same way, and see it as some ideal solution - utterly incompatible with foundational principles.
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France should take a different approach though. Just s
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Except that it would had been entirely within the scope of the Noumea Accord, and fully legitimate (not just legal, as things stand now).
Great. (Score:2)
Now how will we get our regular cultural reports from the crew of PT-73?
Ofcource (Score:1)
This doesn't make any sense. (Score:1)
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