Year after year, governments around the world shut down the Internet due to protests or conflicts, elections or even national exams. These incidents not only violate people’s digital rights, but also cause considerable damage to the country’s economy.
Network shutdown costs 2020-2024
2024: 167 network shutdowns in 28 countries, lasting 88,788 hours and causing losses of US$7.69 billion. Pakistan is the worst affected country.
2023: 196 network shutdowns occurred in 25 countries, lasting 79,238 hours, causing losses of US$9.01 billion. Russia is the country most affected.
2022: 114 network shutdowns occurred in 23 countries, lasting 50,095 hours, causing losses of US$24.61 billion. Russia is the country most affected.
2021: 50 network shutdowns occurred in 21 countries, lasting 30,179 hours, causing losses of US$5.45 billion. Myanmar is the worst affected country.
2020: 93 network shutdowns occurred in 21 countries, lasting 27,165 hours, causing losses of US$4.01 billion. India is the worst affected country.
according to Latest data from Top10VPNIt is estimated that by 2024, government-mandated network shutdowns will cause losses of US$7.69 billion.
While 2024 isn’t the most expensive year yet (2022 and 2023 cost $24.61 and $9.01 respectively), it still breaks some (negative) records.
2024 is the year with the highest number of affected countries. Citizens in 28 countries suffered 167 major self-inflicted network outages, affecting 648.4 million people. Network outages were also the longest ever – 88,788 hours, a 12% increase from 2023.
Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN, said the latter finding was particularly surprising. He told TechRadar: “This could be due to things like Pakistan closesX A lot of attention was paid to it, while long-lasting internet blackouts in Myanmar and Azerbaijan fell off the agenda after a while.
Shutting down the Internet is the most extreme form of Internet censorship because even best VPN Apps can help citizens bypass restrictions. This happens when a government decides to completely shut down the country’s internet.
These incidents may be limited to specific regions – as is often the case in India, with regions such as Jammu, Kashmir, Manipur and Punjab being affected in the past – targeting only mobile or fixed connections or the entire infrastructure.
Every year, there are a variety of motivations that prompt governments around the world to stop using the Internet regardless of the economic impact. Experts found that civil conflict is one of the main reasons for government-imposed restrictions through 2024 – certainly one of the reasons with the biggest impact on the economy.
Iraq once again suffered the most internet shutdowns last year, with a total of 61 incidents. These are all prompted by school exams. However, as mentioned earlier, Pakistan has suffered the greatest economic impact following online and social media blackouts related to elections and anti-government protests. Likewise, internet outages in Myanmar and Sudan were both conflict-related.
Citizens can use Virtual Private Network (VPN) or similar circumvention tools to bypass government-imposed social media blocks. The security software masks the user’s true IP address location, making it appear that they are browsing from a different country with just a few mouse clicks.
This is exactly why global VPN usage will surge in 2024. ProtonVPN recorded Registration surge At least 15 countries.
X (formerly Twitter) is the most blocked social media platform in 2024, due to prolonged blockades in Pakistan (where the platform has been blocked since February), Myanmar and Venezuela.
Douyin followed closely behind. Experts found that Kyrgyzstan’s TikTok shutdown in April, which is still ongoing, was the main reason, with the platform blocked for the majority of 8,115 hours. “Shorter but still important blocks” also appear in Senegal and new caledonia. The latter is particularly important because this is the first time a Western democracy (France) has imposed such restrictions on the Internet.