- According to a report by Top10VPN, the duration of government-imposed internet shutdowns worldwide increased by 49% in 2020 compared to the previous year.
- Although the economic impact of these closures was much less than in 2019, it appears that human rights costs are increasing.
- This is because internet disruptions have affected people in poorer countries excessively.
- One of the authors of the report told Business Insider that the shutdowns had hampered people who had access to health care information “and thus may have contributed to the continued spread of the virus.”
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The internet interruptions imposed by the government increased by 49% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to research by the digital security and rights group Top10VPN.
According to the Top10VPN report, 93 major Internet shutdowns occurred in 21 countries around the world by 2020, including Internet distribution – that is, the only Internet available was 2G – as well as social media shutdowns and complete Internet outages.
In total, there were 27,165 hours of internet interruptions in 2020, a dramatic 49% more than in 2019. Top10VPN estimated that this disappearance affected 268 million people around the world, up from 3% over the previous year.
One of the authors of the report told Business Insider the shutdowns had hampered people who had access to healthcare information “and thus may have contributed to the continued spread of the virus.”
Although the financial impact of internet shutdowns was half the world economy in 2019, human rights costs were significantly higher, the report said.
The authors of the report noted that longer closures were concentrated in poorer countries, resulting in a lower global economic impact.
“While the overall impact on the world economy has diminished, authoritarian regimes have shown little self-control in the face of a global pandemic, and poorer countries have become disproportionate,” they wrote.
India accounted for $ 2.8 billion of the total economic impact, with 75 internet blockages over the course of 2020 amounting to about 8,900 hours – although Top10VPN noted that the actual figure was likely to be higher.
“The majority of these short interruptions were very targeted and affected groups of villages or individual city districts, and were therefore not included in this report, which focuses on larger closures throughout the region. The real economic cost will therefore probably be even higher than the $ 2.8 billion we calculated, ”the report reads.
“The prolonged strike in Kashmir has been particularly damaging. It has disrupted the distribution of medical services, negatively affected education students and harmed local businesses,” Samuel Woodhams, one of the authors of the report, told Business Insider.
India cut off internet access to the Kashmir region on August 4, 2019 – one day before the country’s government revoked the region’s autonomous status. This eclipse was partially lifted in March 2020, but internet speed is still declining.
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Woodhams added that internet shutdowns within the context of the pandemic are an even more worrying violation of human rights than usual. “During the pandemic, internet shutdowns hampered the ability of citizens to access important health information and could therefore contribute to the continued spread of the virus,” he said.
Myanmar has restricted internet access to India for a similar amount of time, and in June reports emerged from the country that some citizens had not even heard of the coronavirus pandemic because they did not have access to the internet.