Russia Restrictions On Facebook, Instagram And X Cost Economy Over $4B In 2023

In 2023, Russia’s imposed internet restrictions resulted in a reported loss of more than $4 billion from its economy.

What Happened: Russia’s decision to limit access to Western social media platforms following the Ukraine invasion in 2022 had a significant impact on its economy. Top10VPN‘s study indicated that Russia underwent 1,353 hours of internet shutdown during the war’s first year, affecting 113 million internet users, according to a Business Insider report on Thursday

This resulted in a $4.02 billion economic loss in 2023, as gauged by the Cost of Shutdown Tool from internet monitor NETBLOCKS. The report listed Russia as the nation with the most significant losses from internet shutdowns, followed by Ethiopia ($1.59 billion) and Iran ($920 million).

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Russia was responsible for almost half of the worldwide economic loss from internet outages, causing a $9.01 billion blow to the global economy. These internet disruptions are among several factors damaging Russia’s economy post-war and during its increasing isolation from the West.

Why It Matters: The internet restrictions in Russia can be traced back to events in 2022, when Apple Inc AAPL removed VKontakte, Russia’s largest social media network, from its App Store. Statista data indicated that VKontakte was the most-used social media platform in Russia as of June 2022. The platform enjoyed a 67 million-strong user base before Apple decided to remove it.

In 2022, Meta Platforms Inc META, the parent company of renowned platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was declared a "terrorist and extremist" entity by Moscow in light of Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine.

Last year, Meta’s popular messaging platform, WhatsApp, also found itself in hot water as it faced a hefty fine in Russia for its refusal to delete banned content. It is noteworthy that while Meta faced a ban in Russia in 2022 under the classification of an "extremist" organization, the messenger app WhatsApp, widely embraced by Russian users, had not encountered legal repercussions in the past for its failure to remove prohibited information.

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