Putin's social media ban cost Russia more than $4 billion last year

Down Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. Russia has restricted access to some Western social media platforms such as Facebook and X. Reuters

• Russia lost over $4 billion due to internet disruptions last year, according to a new report.
• These losses are fueled in part by Russia's aggressive bans on Western social media sites.
• Moscow's economy faces numerous challenges as the war in Ukraine continues.

Putin's social media ban was partly responsible for costing the Russian economy billions of dollars in 2023, according to a new report.

Russia began restricting access to Western social media platforms such as Facebook and X in the weeks after it began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Including time lost due to social media bans in the first year of the war, Russia experienced 1,353 hours of internet shutdowns in 2023, affecting 113 million of its internet users, according to a study by VPN reviewer Top10VPN.

The report found it cost the economy $4.02 billion last year and measured the losses using internet monitor NETBLOCKS' Cost of Shutdown tool.

Russia recorded the largest losses of any country in the report, followed by Ethiopia, which lost $1.59 billion, and Iran, which lost $920 million from internet shutdowns last year.

Russia was also responsible for almost half of the economic loss caused by internet disruptions worldwide. The global economy lost $9.01 billion last year due to internet disruptions in 2023.

The cost of internet shutdowns is the latest in a long list of losses in the Russian economy since the war, particularly as it continues to distance itself from the West. Although Putin has stressed the Russian economy's resilience to Western sanctions, experts say a closer look at the Kremlin's finances shows a far less optimistic outlook as the country's huge defense spending bill diverts resources from other sectors and industries.

Russia's budget deficit grew to 3.24 trillion rubles, or $36 billion, last year, the country's finance ministry said. Moscow, meanwhile, plans to spend a record third of its budget on its military this year, which could further slow economic growth, experts say.

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