US lobbies allies to cut ties to anti-disinformation conference over panel critical of Washington, sources say

The US State Department lobbied Canada and European allies to withdraw support for an anti-disinformation conference because it included a panel examining Washington's role as an alleged information threat to Europe, according to three US ‌officials familiar with the matter and correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

State Department officials spent several days prodding their counterparts in Lithuania, Canada and France about the October 7-8 conference, which was organized by EU DisinfoLab, a Brussels-based nonprofit group whose stated mission is "understanding and tackling disinformation," according to the sources and the ‌correspondence. American diplomats persuaded the Canadian and Lithuanian foreign ministries — which had been listed as the conference's "main supporters" — to distance themselves, the officials said. US ‌Ambassador to Lithuania, Kara McDonald, was involved in the outreach to Vilnius, two US officials said.

The European Union's External Action Service — the bloc's foreign service — also disappeared from the list of conference supporters, although Reuters could not determine whether the State Department had been in touch. The French government is still listed as the conference's only remaining "main supporter."

The panel discussion ⁠in question — ​which followed a scheduled address by an ⁠International Criminal Court judge sanctioned by the United States — was entitled "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back." FIMI is an industry acronym for "foreign information manipulation and interference." The conference ⁠program, which has been public since at least September 9, said that the panel discussion was meant to cover "one of the most uncomfortable questions in the counter-disinformation ​field today: how did the United States become a FIMI threat for Europe?"

The State Department said that while it was "unable to comment ⁠on the details of diplomatic conversations, it should not be a surprise that countries would disaffiliate from this conference" after learning that the US had been labeled a disinformation threat. Using that ⁠kind ​of language "undermines shared goals and should alarm those involved," the State Department said.

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said that while its officials were still participating in the DisinfoLab conference, it had decided to "revise its participation" in several panel discussions at the conference following what it said ⁠were "changes to the framing" of those events. The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it had canceled its participation in ⁠the conference "as several parts of the conference ⁠programme differ from the official position of the Government."

The French and EU officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment. EU DisinfoLab did not immediately return a message sent after business hours in Europe.

The State Department's role ‌in lobbying foreign governments over ‌the conference was first reported by the Guardian.