Who are the Gatekeepers is a project by Manuela Preoteasa and Paul Radu at the Journalism Development Network to examine the gatekeepers of Eastern Europe’s digital networks.

We’re here at the MIT Knight Civic Media Conference, where Alberto Ibarguen and John Bracken have just announced the winners of the latest news challenge, which asked the question “How can we strengthen the Internet for free expression and innovation?” Sands Fish and I were there to liveblog the presentation of grantees.

Paul gets on stage and asks us, “Who are the gatekeepers of the internet, cable and satellite infrastructures in Eastern Europe? ” Imagine yourself in Ukraine, in Maidan square and then receiving a message: “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance, and if you do not leave in 5 minutes, you will be fined.” Imagine yourself in Turkey before an election. Every morning you search for the news; however on this particular morning, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other websites are down. Why are they down? These sites had distributed information that criticised the government.

In Romania, a country sandwiched between Ukraine and Turkey, this hasn’t happened, but it could happen any time. If it were to happen, nobody would know who’s responsible. Journalists know the names of the companies, but they don’t know about their ties to government and organized crime.

To map out risks to the Internet from corruption and political influence, the Who Are the Gatekeepers project will map leaders at the ISPs and telecoms of Eastern Europe. Politicians are always learning bad habits. They are learning to cut off communications by exerting control over these companies. These are new actors, and we need to deeply understand them, Paul reminds us. Read more about the project in their grant proposal.