US Urges Allies to Abandon Anti-Disinformation Conference Over Critical Panel
US Diplomacy and International Response to Anti-Disinformation Conference
By Raphael Satter and Humeyra Pamuk
Background of the Conference and US Concerns
WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - 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.
Diplomatic Outreach and Reactions
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."
Controversial Panel and Its Implications
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?"
Official Statements from Involved Parties
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." A French diplomat told Reuters that while the French government played no role in the program, it regularly supported civil society's efforts to fight disinformation, including through DisinfoLab's conference.
Unanswered Inquiries and Media Coverage
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.
(Reporting by Raphael Satter and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
