What will happen if the world completely shuts down the Internet?

Internet allowing computers to exchangeinformation at a distance, appeared back in 1969. However, in the homes of ordinary people it began to be carried out only in the 1990s, and in Russian apartments access to a high-speed network appeared only 10-15 years ago. This very young technology quickly became an important part of our lives, because it allowed us to instantly exchange messages with friends, make practically free calls, send money, quickly find any information and much more. It’s scary to even think about it, but at any moment the whole world can be left without the Internet - there are many probable reasons, but the most serious is the powerful solar flare. And all because in this case without access tonetwork will remain not one country, but the whole world. In the framework of this article, I propose to dream up on the topic of what can happen during a mass shutdown of the Internet. The fact that people will not be able to follow the news and have fun is nonsense - the consequences can be much more serious.

A global internet shutdown is only possible in the event of a major catastrophe, and the consequences would be dire

solar flares, which are particle emissions andradiation, occur regularly. For the most part, they do not cause problems, but a powerful event can turn off all electricity on Earth. A similar incident, but on a much smaller scale, occurred in 1859 - due to a magnetic storm, local electronics failed in the English village of Carrington.

Content

• 1 How will people communicate without the Internet?
• 2 How will the Internet shutdown affect the economy?
• 3 Internet shutdown will lead to unemployment
• 4 Life without the Internet will increase crime
• 5 Can I manually turn off the entire Internet?

How will people communicate without the Internet?

According to 2021 data, every day usersVkontakte sends 15 billion messages each. Also, people actively communicate through instant messengers like Telegram (we have a great channel there) and so on, so without access to the Internet, no one will be able to keep in touch with their relatives and friends. You might think that people would be able to communicate using mobile communications, but it is also closely connected to the World Wide Web, because it uses it to route calls and communicate. Apparently, at first people will be seized by panic and fear for their relatives, and then they will try to contact by landline phone or through real mail. The queues will certainly be huge.

Without the Internet, people will communicate at a distance with great difficulty.

How will the Internet shutdown affect the economy?

If the Internet suddenly disappears, usersnot only instant messengers will stop working, but also online banking applications. This means that no one will be able to send money to relatives or, for example, pay off a taxi driver. It will be impossible to withdraw cash, because ATMs also exchange data over the worldwide network. Due to the inaccessibility of today's most important technology, a huge number of companies will stop working.

Many people's business is closely related to email - work will be stopped

There is even a real example in modern historyeconomic consequences of the Internet shutdown. In 2011, due to street riots in Egypt, the Internet was turned off for five days. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this short period was enough for the country to lose $18 million a day. It turns out that in total the shutdown cost the authorities $ 90 million, and this event had long-term consequences, which also led to serious losses. It's scary to even imagine what will happen when the Internet is turned off all over the world.

The disappearance of the Internet will lead to big economic consequences

Internet shutdown will lead to unemployment

During the coronavirus pandemic, many people weretransferred to a remote location - they work from home using the Internet. According to the statistics for 2021, about 16% of companies today work completely remotely, and they can provide people with much higher wages. If the World Wide Web does not exist, these employees will not only lose their jobs, but will also not be able to contact their superiors.

Without the Internet, people who are remote will instantly lose their jobs.

People will have to somehow survive and look for newplaces of work. For those who know how to think and work with their hands, there will certainly be one - many tasks that were solved using the Internet will have to be performed by ordinary people.

People may have to become morelocally self-sufficient, because they will no longer have cloud technologies at their disposal. One can imagine how much the percentage of manual labor will increase. For example, road workers will be forced to regulate traffic and catch violators the old fashioned way, the American computer scientist Vinton Cerf once suggested.

Life without the Internet will increase crime

General panic, unavailability of money forbank accounts, lack of work and many other consequences of the Internet shutdown can increase the number of crimes. Sounds logical, but some experts are more optimistic about the future. For example, economist Christopher Hooton believes that when the Internet is turned off, wars and social conflicts are unlikely to begin, but people's daily lives will become almost the same as several decades ago. In general, the disappearance of the World Wide Web will set humanity back to the 1980s or beyond.

Internet shutdown will greatly worsen people's lives

See also: Which generation of people committed the most crimes?

Is it possible to manually turn off the entire Internet?

It is important to note that the complete disappearance of the Internetonly possible in a global catastrophe like a solar flare and so on. But there is no such “knife switch” - if someone decides to block the Internet around the world, this will not happen immediately. Yes, and the shutdown will not be massive, because at least local networks will remain in the world. You can read more details on the topic of turning off the Internet in this material.

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In general, about the consequences of a hypotheticalThe disappearance of the world wide web can be talked about for a long time - this technology is so important that a shutdown can have very unexpected results. How else do you think people's lives will change without the Internet? Share your guesses in the comments.