BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON — The European Union, Canada, and Lithuania have officially withdrawn their sponsorship from an international conference addressing disinformation after the United States was categorized as a potential disinformation threat in the event's agenda.

According to the U.S. political media outlet Politico on the 7th (local time), the U.S. State Department recently instructed its embassies in the EU and various European countries to take action regarding "#Disinfo2026," an international conference on combating disinformation held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

The annual event, organized by the Brussels-based non-profit organization EU Disinformation Lab, brings together European disinformation response professionals.

The core issue raised by the U.S. State Department was that this year's conference schedule included a panel discussion defining the United States as a "Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI)" actor. FIMI is an EU term primarily used to designate activities by foreign powers—such as Russia and China—that distort public opinion and the information environment through online disinformation.

In a diplomatic cable, the State Department emphasized that grouping the United States with foreign adversaries like Russia or China is fundamentally incorrect. It argued that classifying the U.S. as a foreign information manipulation actor risks obscuring the true scale and nature of disinformation campaigns waged by Russia and China.

Furthermore, the State Department instructed U.S. embassies in European nations, including France, to ascertain whether host governments agreed with defining the United States as a public opinion manipulation actor. Some countries were reportedly asked to re-evaluate their participation in the conference entirely.

According to Politico, the contentious panel discussion featured two American researchers and a former CIA official exploring whether the United States itself has become a disinformation threat to Europe. The U.S. also raised direct objections with the Canadian government.

Following the American intervention, Canada and Lithuania requested the removal of their foreign ministry logos from conference materials, while the European External Action Service (EEAS) similarly dropped its logo from official programs.

The EEAS and the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry explained that they withdrew their support because certain conference sessions did not align with their official positions. However, France chose to remain an official sponsor.

In an official statement, the U.S. State Department declared, "Applying terms typically used to describe hostile state influence operations to the United States undermines our shared goals."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]