Internet Shutdown Statistics 2026

Let's talk about how often governments switch the internet off, where, why and what it costs, based on Access Now's #KeepItOn data and Top10VPN's economic estimates.

Government-imposed internet shutdowns hit a new record in 2025, with 313 recorded across 52 countries. The economic toll rose sharply too, reaching $19.7 billion in damage, a 156% increase over the previous year.

Key figures at a glance

Shutdowns keep climbing, and 2025 set a record

Shutdown counts keep climbing: 289 in 2023, 304 in 2024, and a record 313 in 2025.

Economic damage follows a rockier path: Russia's social media bans drove a $24.6 billion spike in 2022 that has not been matched since, though 2025's $19.7 billion (up 156% on 2024, again driven largely by Russia) came close.

Estimated global economic cost, billions of USD. Source: Top10VPN.

Sources: Access Now / #KeepItOn 2025; Top10VPN 2025.

Who shuts down the internet the most

Myanmar led for the second year running with 95 shutdowns, most imposed by the military. India followed with 65, its lowest since 2017 but still the most of any democracy.

Keep in mind: shutdown counts are from Access Now; cost figures are from Top10VPN, which uses a different methodology, so the two columns are not directly comparable.

One region accounts for half the world's shutdowns

The Asia-Pacific alone was responsible for around half of all shutdowns in 2025, and for roughly three quarters of conflict-related ones. The Middle East and North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa followed, with election-day blackouts a recurring feature across Africa.

Source: Access Now / #KeepItOn 2025.

What triggers a shutdown

For the third year running, armed conflict was the leading trigger: 125 shutdowns across 14 countries, often used to hide atrocities. Protests came second (64 across 19 countries), then elections (12 across 8 countries). National exams remain a recurring reason in the Middle East and North Africa.

From whole networks to single apps

Short of a full blackout, the most common tactic is blocking specific platforms. By number of separate blocks in 2025:

• Facebook: blocked 31 times across 18 countries

• WhatsApp: blocked 27 times across 13 countries

• Telegram: blocked 23 times across 16 countries

• Instagram: blocked 20 times across 11 countries

Measured by hours offline, X (Twitter) was hit hardest with 18,354 hours blocked. A newer front is satellite internet: services like Starlink were jammed or banned 14 times across 7 countries in 2025, up from just 4 the year before.

What shutdowns cost the world

Top10VPN estimates that deliberate shutdowns cost the global economy $19.7 billion in 2025, a 156% jump on 2024 and the highest total since 2022. The damage was concentrated: Russia alone accounted for $11.9 billion, ahead of Venezuela ($1.91 billion) and Myanmar ($1.89 billion). Across the year, 120,095 hours of disruption were recorded, a 70% rise on 2024.

Spotlight: Russia became the costliest shutdown regime in the world

Russia's disruptions in 2025 were unlike the short, event-driven outages seen elsewhere: sustained, systemic and nationwide, mixing blackouts, throttling and protocol interference. One tactic, the so-called 16 KB Curtain, let only the first 16 kilobytes of Western sites load, leaving most services effectively unusable. For the wider picture of Russian blocking and the VPN crackdown, see our Internet Censorship Statistics page.

Methodology

Sources

• Access Now / #KeepItOn, Internet Shutdowns in 2025 (published 31 Mar 2026)

• Top10VPN, The Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns 2025

• Internet Society Pulse, Shutdown tracking

• The Moscow Times, Russia 2025