Government internet shutdowns over the last year haven’t just restricted freedom – they’ve cost the world economy $9.01 billion, according to a new report.
During the last year, according to research from Top10VPN, a total of 196 major self-imposed internet outages took place in 25 countries.
“Government internet outages typically take the form of total internet blackouts or social media blocks,” the report authors write.
“Another censorship tactic is internet throttling, where internet speeds are restricted so severely that anything beyond simple text-based communication becomes impossible, such as live-streaming video of protests or human rights abuses.”
Iraq had the largest number of internet outages at 66, almost all of which occurred in relation to school exams, while the longest, lasting more than 5,000 hours, was in Manipur, India.
And half of these government internet outages were associated with human rights abuses, mostly restrictions on freedom of assembly.
“This kind of deliberate disruption is internet censorship in its most extreme form,” say the authors. “Not only do these internet outages infringe on citizens’ digital rights but they are also acts of national economic self-harm.”
The cost of outages was calculated using a tool called Cost, developed by internet monitoring NGO Netblocks and based on indicators from the World Bank, ITU, Eurostat and US Census. And their economic effects were most visible in Russia, where the cost is estimated at $4.02 billion, followed by Ethiopia at $1.59 billion and Iran at $920.3 million.
“The Russian ban on Instagram, Facebook and X (Twitter) was first implemented in February 2022 and continued into 2023,” reads the report.
“Although we stopped including the economic impact of these restrictions in our calculations after February 2023, a year after they were first put into place, this shutdown remained the most expensive one across the world, costing over $4 billion in 2023 alone.”
Overall, the total cost of internet shutdowns during 2023 was down by 67% compared with 2022, but up by 45% on 2021. Duration was up by 18% on 2022, and a significant 71.5% on 2021.
In terms of social media platforms, X, formerly Twitter, was the most blocked, with 10,683 hours of deliberate disruption—18% more than Instagram and 26% more than TikTok.
One notable omission in the report is the economic cost of the ongoing internet outages in Gaza, which has undergone at least six major internet blackouts across multiple networks since early October.
“While these incidents were undoubtedly very serious and damaging, estimating their economic impact is almost impossible due to the wider financial consequences of conflict,” the authors explain.
But according to Access Now, internet traffic across Gaza fell by more than 80% throughout October 2023, thanks to direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure, restrictions on access to electricity, and technical disruptions to telecommunications services.
According to local telecom provider Paltel, the most recent was a two-day outage in late December.
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Tyler Fields is your internet guru, delving into the latest trends, developments, and issues shaping the online world. With a focus on internet culture, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, Tyler keeps readers informed about the dynamic landscape of the internet and its impact on our digital lives.
