Indian economy loses $968 million to Internet Ban

By: Anjali Gupta

Brookings' , an independent research firm , based in Washington, studied the economic impact of complete national internet shutdown in the country from 22 disruptions out of the total 81 cases in 19 countries at the same time.

According to the research, the internet disruptions caused a total loss of $2.4 billion worldwide ,over the past year. India was the most affected out of the 19 countries. India suffered 22 internet shutdowns and this wiped out $968 million out of the Indian economy , from July 1, 2015 to June 30 , 2016.

Saudi Arabia lost $465 million followed by Morocco with a total loss of $320 million. Both India and Iraq had 22 cases of internet disruptions. The non- ISIS controlled part of Syria had 8 closely followed by Pakistan with 6 cases and Turkey with 3 . North Korea , Bangladesh, Brazil ,Uganda and Vietnam had 2 cases each.

According to West, the Internet disruptions post severe lags in growth, cost government tax revenue, weakens innovation and undermine consumer and business confidence in a country's economy.

Earlier,  this year, The United Nations Human Rights Council ( UNHRC) passed a non binding resolution condemning the Internet shutdown worldwide.