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| Closing the Internet will cost the world economy $ 8 billion |
According to a new report by Top10VPN for Internet Research, the deliberate shutdown of the Internet and the closure of social media has resulted in the global economy losing more than $ 8 billion last year. The report examines the economic impact of the global internet shutdown in 2019.
Internet shutdown costs are calculated by NGOs monitoring cyber security and Internet management on NetBlocks. Its tool is a tool that calculates the cost of closing the Internet community. The tool uses the World Bank, the International Telecommunication Union, the statistical office of the European Union and the United States. Statistics Office Statistics.
Access Now says that turning off the Internet is a deliberate disruption of the Internet or digital communications that makes access to these services not possible for specific groups, as Access Now says: governments or agencies are often closed to control the flow of information.
Top10VPN tracked 18,225 hours of internet outages worldwide in 2019, at a total economic cost of $ 8.05 billion. The researchers note that the number of stops in 2019 is higher than ever, and total costs have increased by 235 percent compared to 2016.
Last year, there were 122 major accidents in 21 countries, which means that there are parking lots in 122 countries or regions, that there are over 90 smaller parking spaces in India and India and that there are restrictions elsewhere. The analysis showed that the closure of the civilian population is often seen as an authoritarian regime that tries to limit the flow of information.
The report shows that the MENA region had the highest closing costs last year at $ 3.1 billion, while the number is increasing in sub-Saharan countries. The cost of the region is the highest in Asia at about $ 1.7 billion.
Iraq is the country with the highest parking costs. The country lost $ 2.3 billion in its economy, and Iraq witnessed 263 hours of turmoil last year. About 19 million Internet users are affected, and Sudan amounts to 1.8 billion dollars. Second, India ranked third with over 100 proposed closings, at a total cost of $ 1.3 billion.
Top10VPN found that the five countries whose economies were hard hit by turmoil on the Internet and social media in the past year were Iraq, Sudan, India, Venezuela and Iran. The social media platforms most affected by the government shutdown were WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging app, experienced 6,236 hours of interruption in 2019 in countries like Sri Lanka, Sudan and India.
Samuel Woodhams, one of the authors of the report, expected this turmoil to continue in the current political turmoil. Turning off the internet will stop the entire digital economy and cause permanent damage, hurting investor confidence and the informal economy.
Top10VPN results worldwide continue with government-led Internet shutdown. For example, Russia passed a sovereign Internet law that entered into force on November 1, allowing the government to block Internet traffic from abroad in emergency situations.
Russian law is similar to the so-called Chinese "firewall", which reduces internet traffic and blocks access to some foreign websites, including Google and Facebook.
Despite the negative impact on the global economy, human rights and democratic processes, it is expected that the Internet will continue to be closed this year at a high cost to the global economy, said Samuel Woodhams: As the global digital economy continues to grow, the impact of Internet failure on the economy will be greater.