Hashtag(s): #InternetShutdowns, #KeepItOn,
Internet shutdowns over the course of 2024 has cost the Pakistani economy US$1.62
billion, according to a report by TopVPN, an independent VPN review website. According
to TopVPN, government-mandated internet shutdowns in 2024 resulted in a global
economic cost of US$7.69 billion, of which Pakistan was the most severely impacted,
followed by Myanmar (US$ 1.58 billion) and Sudan (US$1.12 billion). This is a drastic
increase from 2023, where the total cost to Pakistan was US$237.6 million, according to
TopVPN’s report for 2023. In additional to the economic cost, the TopVPN estimates that
82.9 million users in Pakistan were negatively affected over the course of 2024.
According to the report, 82.9 million internet users in Pakistan were impacted by the
shutdowns, with “Peaceful Protest” and “Free & Fair Elections”, two other benchmarks,
were also impacted, as can be confirmed by the ongoing ban on X (Formerly Twitter). The
report also highlighted that social media platforms, X in particular, were a key target of
internet shutdowns in 2024, worldwide.
TopVPN calculated the economic costs of internet shutdowns by “using the Netblocks Cost
of Shutdown Tool, which is based on the Brookings Institution method, with CIPESA’s
specialized model used for sub-Saharan Africa. Regional shutdown costs are derived
from the region’s economic output as a proportion of national GDP.”