On 7-8 October, EU DisinfoLab, an independent European civil society organisation, convened the biggest European conference on disinformation in Vilnius, Lithuania, with 650 participants from civil society, media, academia, tech companies and government institutions. Following pressure from the US government, multiple sponsors removed their logos from the conference at the last minute.
At Disinfo2026, the latest trends facing the counter-disinformation community were discussed, including a panel entitled “US as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back”, which drew ire from the US government. In the run-up to the conference, the US State Department called on EU Member States and Canada to withdraw their support for the conference and also put pressure on the organisers to change the agenda, despite it being public for months prior to the conference.
In recent years, the US government has openly pressured the EU to backtrack on its digital regulation. It has even attempted to intimidate individuals by imposing sanctions – a move to silence democracy defenders.
The EU should withstand these pressures. The European External Action Service should not have given in to pressure from the US, thereby publicly distancing itself from European researchers and civil society and an open debate on challenges and threats. This is particularly surprising given the institution’s long-term commitment to fighting foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) – a term the EEAS coined itself. Conference sponsoring does not imply agreement with the full content, but allows for editorial autonomy of the organiser and the ability of participants and speakers to present and discuss freely.
Debate and disagreement are fundamentals of democracy. Independently organised conferences should not be forced to reflect the EU’s official line, as implied by the EEAS last week. Notably, the other main sponsors, the government of France and GoVilnius, did not withdraw their sponsorship.
We call on the European Parliament to adopt a resolution in support of free debate and urging EU institutions to withstand undue pressure by foreign actors – regardless of its origin – that targets democratic infrastructure and values.
EU institutions should reaffirm their support to European researchers, civil society, media and others fighting for Europe’s information integrity. This is particularly important at a time when financial support for civil society is being reduced drastically, further impeding its work.
Signatories
- Adam Fivenson, American University, USA
- Dr Adela Levis, University of Michigan, USA
- AI Forensics
- Alberto Fittarelli
- Alliance4Europe
- American Sunlight Project
- Ana Fernández Inguanzo, Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Antoine de Gunzbourg, Open Source Intelligence & Strategy, MELETA
- Association of European Journalists in Belgium
- Avoin yhteiskunta ry, Faktabaari
- Benoît Thieulin, President of the “La Warroom.AI” agency, specialising in informational and cognitive warfare. Former président of the French digital Committee.
- Bits of Freedom
- Brendan Spillane, University College Dublin
- Camille Grenier, Executive Director, Forum on Information and Democracy
- Carlos Entrena Serrano, Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Carolina Scarton, University of Sheffield
- CEE Digital Democracy Watch
- CeMAS – Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie
- CheckFirst
- Christian Leffler, former Deputy Secretary General, EEAS
- Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties)
- Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE)
- Daniel Scarnecchia, viz., Skywatch
- Defend Democracy
- Demagog Association (Poland)
- Demagog.sk (Slovakia)
- Democracy Reporting International
- Denis Teyssou
- Deutsche Vereinigung für Datenschutz e.V. (DVD), Deutschland
- Državljan D / Citizen D, Slovenia
- EDGE Foundation
- EDMO – Baltic Engagement Centre for Combating Information Disorders (BECID)
- EDMO – Bulgarian Romanian Observatory of Digital Media (BROD)
- EDMO – European Digital Media Observatory
- EDMO – European Digital Media Observatory for Belgium and Luxembourg (BELUX)
- EDMO – Hungarian Digital Media Observatory (HDMO)
- EDMO Ireland
- EDMO – Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO)
- Efthimios Hamilos, Media Analysis, Verification and Retrieval (MeVer) group, CERTH-ITI
- Dr Eirliani Abdul Rahman, University of Mannheim, Germany
- Elbarlament
- Election-Watch.EU
- Electronic Frontier Norway
- Eleni Alevritou, Consumer Association the Quality of Life -EKPIZO, Greece
- Dr Emma L. Briant, University of Notre Dame, USA
- Prof. Dr Eric Heinze, Queen Mary University of London
- European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL)
- European Exchange
- European Fact-Checking Standards Network
- European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
- European Partnership for Democracy
- Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR)
- Free Press Unlimited
- Fundación Maldita.es
- Geoffroy Patriarche, Engage – Research Center for Publicness in Contemporary Communication, UCLouvain
- Georgios Terzis, Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Global Media Registry (GMR)
- Global Voices
- HateAid
- Health Action International
- INPACT / All Eyes On Wagner
- Irini Katsirea, University of Sheffield
- Irish Council for Civil Liberties
- Jessica Galissaire, Senior Policy Researcher, interface – tech analysis and policy ideas for Europe
- Juli Bakagianni, Media Analysis, Verification and Retrieval (MeVer) group, CERTH-ITI
- Kalina Bontcheva, University of Sheffield and Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM)
- Dr Keith Peter Kiely, GATE Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Kim Holmberg, University of Turku
- Kofi Annan Foundation
- Laura Kaun, Head of EU and UK Public Affairs, CCDH Brussels
- Lena-Maria Böswald, Senior Policy Researcher, interface – tech analysis and policy ideas for Europe
- Maia Scott
- Marie Bohner
- Mike Thelwall, University of Sheffield
- Nicolas Hénin
- Nikos Sarris, Media Analysis, Verification and Retrieval (MeVer) group, CERTH-ITI
- ObSINT ry
- Open Terms Archive
- Partnerships for Integrity (P4I)
- People vs Big Tech
- Politiscope
- QuotaClimat
- Ralph Hertwig, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, BerlinÅsa Wikforss, Stockholm University
- Ranking Digital Rights
- RNW Media
- Robin Berjon, Supramundane Agency
- Sabri Derinöz, Engage – Research Center for Publicness in Contemporary Communication, UCLouvain
- Sophie Pornschlegel, University of Maastricht
- Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol
- SUPERRR Lab, Berlin
- Symeon Papadopoulos, Media Analysis, Verification and Retrieval (MeVer) group, CERTH-ITI
- Transparency International EU
- Trisha Meyer, Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Vrijschrift.org
- WHAT TO FIX
Last update: 27 October 2026
© European Union 2026 – Source : EP
