Shortly after midnight on Jan. 28 Mubarak took the radical step of shutting down the entire internet and blocking mobile services. Now it's time for former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and other government officials to pay for the unprecedented 5-day shut down of the internet in late January. According to Al Jazeera, they have been fined more than $90 million. Mubarak will owe $34 million, former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazeef has been fined 40 million EGP, and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly 300 million EGP (there are about 5 EGP to $1).
The government maintained the internet blackout for five days, which the OECD estimated cost about $90 million, or $18 million a day, a figure accounting for about 3-4% of Egypt’s annual GDP. The Egyptian stock market plunged 10% in one day, the biggest ever one day drop, and some ratings agencies downgraded Egypt with analysts estimating in mid-February that the economy has already lost about $3 billion due to the crisis. Such a broad blackout in such an economically and politically powerful country is unprecedented, and raises significant concerns about the risk of doing business in countries where authoritarian rulers are deeply unpopular. Although Burma and Iran attempted to do the same, Egypt’s successful blockage was a wake-up call to experts and officials who thought such a possibility was off the table.
The government maintained the internet blackout for five days, which the OECD estimated cost about $90 million, or $18 million a day, a figure accounting for about 3-4% of Egypt’s annual GDP. The Egyptian stock market plunged 10% in one day, the biggest ever one day drop, and some ratings agencies downgraded Egypt with analysts estimating in mid-February that the economy has already lost about $3 billion due to the crisis. Such a broad blackout in such an economically and politically powerful country is unprecedented, and raises significant concerns about the risk of doing business in countries where authoritarian rulers are deeply unpopular. Although Burma and Iran attempted to do the same, Egypt’s successful blockage was a wake-up call to experts and officials who thought such a possibility was off the table.
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