Canada, Lithuania and EU service drop backing for #Disinfo2026 over panels on US as threat

Left · 2Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Lithuania's foreign ministry and the European External Action Service (EEAS) withdrew their sponsorship of #Disinfo2026, a European counter-disinformation conference held in Vilnius on Wednesday and Thursday. 1 2 Left · 2The conference is run by EU DisinfoLab, an independent Brussels non-profit, and draws researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers. 1 2 Left · 2The three supporters' logos were removed from the conference website and covered on signs and materials at the venue, according to photos shared with both outlets. 1 2

Left · 2The governments' stated reason is the framing of some panels, including one titled "USA as a FIMI threat: adapt, acknowledge, push back", on foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). 1 2 Left · 1The Guardian, citing three people familiar with the matter including European officials, reports that the US state department contacted multiple governments about their support, and that internal state department documents it saw thank Lithuania for "taking US concerns seriously". It says other communications appeared to come from the office of Sarah B Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, and that France was also contacted. 1 Left · 1Lithuania's foreign ministry said several parts of the programme "differ from the official position of the Government". An EU spokesperson said the organisers framed discussions in a way that "does not align with the official positions held by the EU", and the EU continues to fund the conference. 1

Left · 2GAC spokesperson Samantha Lafleur did not deny concerns about describing the US as a threat. She did not answer CBC's questions about which changes GAC objected to or whether the US raised concerns. She said Canadian officials still participate in the conference, and that Canada remains committed to countering disinformation. 2 1 Left · 2The timing of the programme changes is questioned. The Guardian says the programme had been in place since June. CBC, citing the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, says the description of the US panel appears unchanged since Sept. 9. 1 2 Left · 1A GAC official also pulled out of chairing a Thursday session on Arctic disinformation, said presenter Ben Shultz of the American Sunlight Project. That panel addresses evidence that the US has acted as a FIMI actor in the Arctic, including Greenland. Shultz called the withdrawals a "shock" and questioned whether the governments were pressured, but said every speaker still showed up. 2

Left · 1Nina Jankowicz, a former US official and disinformation expert, said she understood Washington had pressured Lithuania and Canada, and described it as the US government using its power to pressure Americans from criticising their government. France's foreign ministry said it saw no reason to change its commitment to support the conference. 1 Left · 2The reports place the withdrawals in a wider context: Lithuania's prime minister recently offered to pay for a permanent US military base, Canada is in a trade dispute with the Trump administration, and the Guardian says the state department has taken an increasingly interventionist posture on free speech and civil society in Europe. The reports did not include a US state department response. 1 2