Internet Shutdowns Cost Global Economy $10 Billion: Report

The shutdown of internet in various parts of the world cost the global economy $10 billion, according to a report from Top10VPN. The figure is double the cost of 2021, the report further added.

The report was released on Tuesday and said that there have already been more internet shutdowns in the six months of 2022 compared to the entire 2021.

Top10VPN listed the major shutdowns across 16 countries, which they said cost $10.6 billion as against $5.45 billion in 50 major shutdowns last year.

The report mentioned three types of shutdown – internet blackouts, social media shutdowns, and severe throttling where mobile networks are only able to transmit voice calls and text messages.

The biggest portion of $10.6 billion was reported from Russia, where internet shutdowns cost $8.7 billion, according to the report. The blackouts in Russia began after its invasion if Ukraine in February this year to limit the protests.

In Sudan, Syria and Algeria, government clamped down on the internet to stop students from cheating in exams.

Top10VPS said it used Netblocks and the Internet Society’s Cost of Shutdown Tool to calculate the cost. “Regional shutdown costs are derived from the region’s economic output as a proportion of national GDP,” according to the report. Partial shutdowns costs were calculated in proportion to the latest publicly available internet market-share information for affected countries, per the methodologies section.

How does internet shutdown work?

According to the BBC, a government can restrict access by ordering internet service providers (ISPs) to limit access to their subscribers. This affects the social media usage.

As a more extreme measure, it can ask ISPs to block all internet access.