Cost Of Internet Shutdown Tool (COST)

Cost of Internet Shutdown Tool (COST) compared with Top10VPN Cost of Shutdowns
Cost of Internet Shutdown Tool (COST)	Top10VPN Cost of Shutdowns
Type of resource: NetBlocks COST is the estimation tool that Top10VPN applies to shutdowns once their scope and duration are confirmed. It targets total blackouts, mobile data outages and social media restrictions.	Type of resource: Top10VPN publishes an annual report on major government-imposed shutdowns, covering 2019 to 2025, with continuous monitoring. It does not offer its own calculator and links to the NetBlocks tool instead.
Method and inputs: Economic indicators come from the World Bank, ITU and Eurostat, and the approach follows the Brookings Institution. For Sub-Saharan Africa, Top10VPN adds the CIPESA model on top of the NetBlocks and Brookings method.	Method and inputs: Partial outages are scaled by the affected country market share of internet users, and regional costs by each region share of national GDP. Throttling is classed by functional impact. The page names its tools and inputs but publishes no explicit formulas.
	Coverage and results: The 2025 figures list 212 major outages in 28 countries, 120,095 hours, 798.12 million people affected and an estimated 19.7 billion US dollars of cost. Social media shutdowns lasting more than 365 days are excluded, unless access is restored within the year.
	Access and updates: The reports are free to read, with one page for each year from 2019 to 2024. The 2025 edition was updated on 5 January 2026, and an incident-level data sheet is published in Google Sheets.

Cost of Internet Shutdown Tool (COST) compared with Top10VPN Cost of Shutdowns

Cost of Internet Shutdown Tool (COST)

Top10VPN Cost of Shutdowns

Type of resource: NetBlocks COST is the estimation tool that Top10VPN applies to shutdowns once their scope and duration are confirmed. It targets total blackouts, mobile data outages and social media restrictions.

Type of resource: Top10VPN publishes an annual report on major government-imposed shutdowns, covering 2019 to 2025, with continuous monitoring. It does not offer its own calculator and links to the NetBlocks tool instead.

Method and inputs: Economic indicators come from the World Bank, ITU and Eurostat, and the approach follows the Brookings Institution. For Sub-Saharan Africa, Top10VPN adds the CIPESA model on top of the NetBlocks and Brookings method.

Method and inputs: Partial outages are scaled by the affected country market share of internet users, and regional costs by each region share of national GDP. Throttling is classed by functional impact. The page names its tools and inputs but publishes no explicit formulas.

Coverage and results: The 2025 figures list 212 major outages in 28 countries, 120,095 hours, 798.12 million people affected and an estimated 19.7 billion US dollars of cost. Social media shutdowns lasting more than 365 days are excluded, unless access is restored within the year.

Access and updates: The reports are free to read, with one page for each year from 2019 to 2024. The 2025 edition was updated on 5 January 2026, and an incident-level data sheet is published in Google Sheets.