Canada drops sponsorship of conference that talks of U.S. as foreign interference actor

The Canadian government has withdrawn its sponsorship of an anti-disinformation conference in Lithuania that feature panels talking the United States as a foreign interference threat.

Samantha Lafleur, a spokesperson for Global Affairs, said the government wasn’t comfortable with the framing of some of the panels and Canadian officials will still take part in the conference but will not chair any discussions.

“Following changes to the framing of several panel discussions, Global Affairs decided to revise its participation in those sessions at the EU DisinfoLab 2026 conference,” Ms. Lafleur said in an e-mailed statement.

Disinfo2026 is an annual conference on countering disinformation, with this year’s taking place in Vilnius this week.

It’s organized by EU DisinfoLab, a non-profit based in Brussels.

More than one panel discusses the U.S. as a source of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), in which state-backed actors conduct co-ordinated and deceptive behaviour to sway public debate and undermine elections and institutions.

The conference program frames one session, slated for Thursday, as a provocative discussion on “growing evidence that the United States has, in specific Arctic contexts, operated as a FIMI actor.”

Saliou Babou, the director of a Global Affairs Canada unit that was set up to counter foreign state- disinformation, was slated to chair a session on disinformation in the Arctic. The Rapid Response Mechanism was set up several years ago.

The Lithuanian government and the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, have also withdrawn their sponsorship for Disinfo2026, participants at the event told The Globe and Mail.

The conference organizers declined .

The Global Affairs spokesperson said Canada remains committed to combatting disinformation.

“We respect the right of the organizers to frame discussions as they see fit and recognize the independence of civil society actors and speakers at the conference,” Ms. Lafleur said.

Benjamin Shultz, a lead researcher at the American Sunlight Project and a conference participant, said posters at the conference listing sponsors now feature white stickers covering the logos for Canada, Lithuania and the EU.