CNN —When authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes feel threatened by their public, they often shut down the internet. Internet Society, a US-based non-profit organization that advocates for global internet access, last week released a new tool called NetLoss, which calculates the economic damage of government-imposed internet blackouts. After tracking global internet shutdowns in 2022, the organization found that countries in the Middle East and North Africa tightened restrictions on internet access over time. In the Middle East, internet shutdowns are correlated with authoritarian regimes, particularly during social unrest or conflict, Jones said. Neither country has ever imposed a complete internet shutdown, according to Internet Society, and both have a shutdown risk of under 10%.

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Persons: ”, Marc Owen Jones, Hamad, Jones, Hanna Kreitem, Kreitem, ” Kreitem, “, ” Jones Organizations: CNN, Internet Society, Rapid Support Forces, Bank, Society, Hamad Bin Khalifa University Locations: Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, Algeria, Iran, US, East, North Africa, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, Ukraine