World’s worst Internet clampdown cost Myanmar US$3bil in 2021

A file photo of a man using a mobile phone while walking in Yangon. Myanmar topped 21 countries that disrupted the Internet for a total 30,179 hours last year. — AFP

Internet outages by Myanmar’s military junta to curb nationwide protests over a coup in 2021 cost the country US$2.8bil (RM11.73bil), the biggest losses in the world, according to a study.

The South-East Asian nation topped 21 countries that disrupted the Internet for a total 30,179 hours last year, leading to global losses of US$5.5bil (RM23.05bil) – up 36% from 2020. Nigeria and India followed Myanmar, a report from UK-based digital privacy and security research group Top10VPN showed Tuesday.