DHAKA: Bangladesh lost $69 million due to internet shutdowns spread over more than four weeks during a 12-month period, according to a report by the Centre for Technology Innovation at Washington-based Brookings Institution.

The analysis found that between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 the shutdowns cost at least $2.4bn in gross domestic product globally.

The estimate is conservative and considers only reductions in economic activity and does not account for tax losses or drops in investor, business and consumer confidence, said the century-old research organisation.

The report, which highlights significant economic and social damage that internet service disruptions bring to countries, covered two internet shutdowns in Bangladesh between July 31, 2015 and June 30, 2016. The shutdowns lasted 25 days in total.

On November 18, 2015 the government blocked internet and social media networks Facebook and online messaging and calling services WhatsApp and Viber after the Supreme Court rejected pleas to review the death penalties meted out to top war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.

The internet shutdown lasted only for an hour but the restrictions continued on Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp until December 12. Later in the same month, the government blocked Twitter, Skype and Imo for three days.

Industry people could not come up with figures for economic losses immediately, but they said blocking the internet always directly impacts the ecosystem of the country, while social media blackout harms businesses and social life.

The Brookings paper analysed the economic impact of temporary internet shutdowns. It examined 81 short-term shutdowns in 19 countries, identified their duration, scope and the population affected, and estimated their impact on the gross domestic product.

Economic losses include $968 million in India, $465m in Saudi Arabia, $320m in Morocco, $209m in Iraq, $116m in Brazil, $72m in the Republic of the Congo, $69m in Pakistan, $48m in Syria, $35m in Turkey and $20m in Algeria, among other places.

The report said it is important to point out that the analysis only looked at the economic impact on GDP.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2017