Hong Kong (CNN Business) More than 18,000 hours of internet shutdowns around the world caused by deliberate government action cost more than $8 billion in 2019, a new report estimates.

India, Chad and Myanmar were the worst offenders in terms of the amount of time the internet was disrupted, while Iraq was the most economically affected, losing an estimated $2.3 billion across 263 hours of internet blackouts and social media shutdowns.

The report, which examines partial and total shutdowns across 122 countries, was published by the internet research firm Top10VPN and builds on work done by the internet freedom watchdog Netblocks and advocacy group The Internet Society.

"In economic terms, disruptions not only affect the formal economy but also the informal, especially in less well-developed nations. There can also be lasting damage with the loss of investor confidence and faltering development, all of which makes our estimates conservative," researchers Samuel Woodhams and Simon Migliano wrote for Top10VPN.

"On the human rights side, these shutdowns clearly impact citizens' freedom of expression and the right to information and may even result in an increase in violence."

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