EU, Canada, Lithuania Withdraw Support For Disinformation Conference Over U.S. Panel
A dispute over a conference panel examining the United States as a potential disinformation threat has prompted the European Union, Canada and Lithuania to withdraw their support for the #Disinfo2026 conference in Vilnius.
The October 7–8 event, organised by Brussels-based non-profit EU DisinfoLab, brings together researchers, journalists, technology experts and policymakers to discuss countering disinformation.
EU spokesperson, Christian Wigand, said the bloc withdrew sponsorship because some discussions were framed in ways that conflicted with its official positions.
“We were not comfortable with the framing of some of the discussions at the event. The organisers chose to frame some of the discussions in a way which does not align with the official positions held by the EU”, he said.
However, The Guardian attributed the withdrawals to pressure from U.S. State Department officials over a panel titled “USA as a FIMI threat: adapt, acknowledge, push back”.
The session explored foreign information manipulation and interference, with three American speakers, including a former CIA officer, reportedly discussing how Europe could strengthen its resilience without Washington.
The newspaper reported that U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Sarah Rogers, was behind the intervention.
Lithuania said parts of the programme differed from its government’s official position, while Canada cited changes to the framing of several panel discussions as the reason for revising its participation.
