Daniel Wolfram
The Trump administration was reportedly upset by some of the panels at the conference that viewed the United States as a disinformation threat.
According to POLITICO, the U.S. State Department instructed embassies in the EU and Canada to voice strong objections to a conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, called #Disinfo2026.
The department objected to what it perceived to be a false notion about how the conference described the US as a “foreign information manipulation and interference,” country (FIMI). European diplomats typically reserve that designation for adversaries like Russia or China.
The U.S. argued that the comparison created a false equivalence. Still, the pressure worked. Canada, Lithuania, and the European Union’s diplomatic arm quickly withdrew their logos from the event.
Heated debates
Some of the sessions the State Department objected to examined how American political influence affects European democracies, featuring former CIA officers and researchers.
Another panel explored how legal pressure and potential visa restrictions from Washington affect European researchers. Three U.S. citizens actually spoke on the contested panels.
Panelist Adam Fivenson of American University criticized the intervention. “To me, I see a very strange reaction from the State Department to a conference of researchers using our First Amendment free speech rights to talk about how to stop lying and manipulation that undermines democracy and hurts our families and hurts our children,” Fivenson said, according to POLITICO.
Different interpretations of free speech
The dispute highlights a growing rift between the U.S. and its European allies over the scope of free speech. European countries fear that the current administration is becoming more authoritarian after the Trump administration dismantled government watchdogs fighting disinformation.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials have repeatedly criticized European laws that force social media platforms to regulate online speech.
State Department officials defended their stance. “While we are unable to comment on the details of diplomatic conversations, it should not be a surprise that countries would disaffiliate from this conference upon learning that it labeled the U.S. a ‘FIMI threat.’ Labeling the United States a ‘FIMI threat,’ a term normally reserved for describing influence operations of adversaries, undermines shared goals and should alarm those involved,” the department said in a statement.
While the pressure worked on most European countries, representatives from Norway, Romania, and Poland remained on the schedule despite American complaints.
