A view of Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the seat of Canada’s government, in a file photo. (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)
The Canadian government pulled its sponsorship of a recent conference in Lithuania that accused the United States as a potential source of foreign disinformation.
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) was one of several government bodies that withdrew sponsorship of the Disinfo2026 conference, held Oct. 7–8 in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the EU’s diplomatic service and Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry also dropping their support.
GAC told The Epoch Times that it withdrew sponsorship after changes were made to the framing of a discussion on disinformation in the Arctic.
“GAC had committed to moderating a panel organized by EU DisinfoLab on disinformation in the context of the Arctic. After this commitment, changes were made to the framing of several panel discussions, including the one GAC had agreed to moderate,” the department said.
“We therefore decided to revise our participation in this session, as it no longer aligned with the parameters of our commitment.”
The Disinfo2026 conference was organized by the Brussels-based non-profit EU DisinfoLab and hosted journalists, policymakers, researchers, and specialists to look at threats in the information environment. It included a session entitled “USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back.”
Foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) refers to attempts by a foreign actor to manipulate and influence information environments and undercut confidence in democratic institutions.
The Disinfo2026 program also included panels on artificial intelligence, transparency and accountability for online platforms, and enforcement measures against disinformation.
The session that GAC backed out of looked at whether U.S. activities in the Arctic, including those relating to Greenland, were a form of FIMI.
Benjamin Shultz of the American Sunlight Project, one of those who spoke on the Arctic panel, has disputed GAC’s explanation, sharing screenshots on Oct. 8 that he said showed the panel’s description had already included discussing the U.S. as a possible source of FIMI in the Arctic since being posted on June 4.
“Screenshot 1: Panel description on 4 June 2026. Screenshot 2: Panel description yesterday, after GAC dropped out. Cosmetic edits, yes. Re-framing? Absolutely not,” Schultz posted Oct. 8 on Bluesky.
GAC said that despite the decision to withdraw sponsorship and not chair the Arctic panel, it respects the right of organizers to “frame discussions” in the way they choose.