Camilla Jessen
Russian internet censorship costs economy billions.
Russia experienced the most extensive deliberate internet outages in the world in 2025, costing its economy an estimated $11.9 billion after government-imposed restrictions on connectivity, according to a recent Top10VPN report.
These outages were not isolated blackouts triggered by events like protests, but rather part of a systemic, sustained internet control strategy that combined wide-ranging shutdowns with targeted throttling and protocol interference.
Scale of disruption
The report found that Russian authorities imposed deliberate internet restrictions for more than 37,000 hours in 2025, affecting roughly 146 million people. Essentially the entire population.
These disruptions included full shutdowns, region-level blocks and tactics that left services technically “online” but effectively unusable.
The Russian total was more than triple the outage hours recorded in second-place Pakistan and far exceeded shutdowns in other countries like Iran and Myanmar.
The “16 KB curtain” tactic
A key component of Russia’s approach was what has been described as the “16 KB curtain”. This refers to a throttling method that limited many Western-hosted websites to only the first 16 kilobytes of data, rendering them virtually useless despite appearing accessible.
This technique was applied to services hosted on major content networks and effectively isolated users from popular online platforms, slowing access to news sites, communications tools and cloud-based services while avoiding full outright blocking.
Economic and global impact
Top10VPN’s analysis showed that deliberate internet disruptions globally cost $19.7 billion in economic output in 2025. A 156 percent increase compared with the previous year.
Russia was responsible for a majority of that total, with its losses alone nearly $12 billion.
Other countries in the top ten for lost economic output due to internet disruptions included Venezuela, Myanmar, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran, though none approached Russia’s scale of disruption or cost.
Broader context
Experts from Human Rights Watch say the wave of outages reflects an escalation in digital control and censorship.
The Kremlin has increasingly tightened its grip on internet infrastructure and access, often justifying restrictions on security grounds while critics see them as efforts to suppress information, restrict free expression and shape the domestic online environment.
Sources: United24Media, Top10VPN, Human Rights Watch
