As per a report by the UK-based security research firm Top10VPN, India suffered the biggest economic impact in the world in 2020 due to Internet shutdowns, adding up to 8,927 hours and $2.8 billion losses.
- While the economic impact due to Internet curbs surged in India in 2020, globally, at $4.01 billion, this came down by 50 per cent from 2019.
- Of the 21 countries that curbed Web access in 2020 , the economic impact seen in India was more than double the combined cost for the next 20 countries in the list.
- The report added that the actual economic impact for India may be even higher than the $2.8 billion figure — which itself was double the losses on account of Internet shutdowns in 2019, with businesses in 2020 anyway hit due to the Covid lockdown.
- To calculate the economic cost of Internet shutdowns, the firm used the “Cost of Shutdown Tool” from Netblocks and Internet Society, which uses the Brookings Institution Method.
(Source: Indian Express)
