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Freedom251 › Blog › AI and information integrity

What Was #Disinfo2026, and How Do Disinformation Conferences Work?

By Freedom251 Team · · 8 min read

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#Disinfo2026 was EU DisinfoLab’s annual, in-person conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, held in October 2026. It used plenary sessions, parallel tracks and practical workshops to bring together people working on disinformation. The event is over, but it offers a useful case study of how these conferences are organised—and why distinguishing disinformation from ordinary mistakes matters.

What is disinformation exactly?

EUvsDisinfo defines disinformation as “false or misleading content that is created, presented and disseminated with an intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm.” That definition has three important parts: the content is false or misleading, someone creates or spreads it deliberately, and the material can cause harm to the public.

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The definition also draws boundaries. It does not include simple errors, satire and parody, or clearly identified partisan news and commentary. A wrong statistic in an article may be an error; a satirical headline is not automatically a disinformation campaign; and an openly labelled opinion piece is not disguised as neutral reporting.

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Disinformation versus misinformation

Misinformation is false or misleading content shared without an intention to cause harm. The result can still be damaging, but the defining difference is intent. Someone forwarding an inaccurate post because they believe it is true is spreading misinformation, not necessarily disinformation.

Intent is often difficult for an ordinary reader to establish. You may be able to identify an inaccurate claim, but proving why it was created or circulated can require evidence about the source, money, coordination or political purpose. Treat the label as a conclusion that needs support, not as a synonym for anything you dislike or believe to be wrong.

Why the distinction matters

Different problems call for different responses. Correcting an honest mistake may require a reliable source and a respectful explanation. A coordinated attempt to deceive may require investigation, platform enforcement, policy action or public warnings. Calling every inaccurate statement “disinformation” can make the term less useful and can turn a factual dispute into a political accusation.

What #Disinfo2026 was

EU DisinfoLab presented #Disinfo2026 as its annual conference for the counter-disinformation field. The organisation works across research, knowledge-sharing, policy analysis and outreach, so the event was designed as a professional convening point rather than a public exhibition or a general technology trade show.

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The main conference took place on 7–8 October 2026 at Radisson Blu Lietuva, Konstitucijos pr. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania. Pre-conference workshops were scheduled for 6 October. Because those dates have passed, any registration prices, room allocations or access instructions associated with that edition are historical information, not an invitation to buy a ticket now.

What the event was intended to do

A specialist conference such as this gives researchers, journalists, civil-society groups, policymakers and other practitioners a place to compare evidence and discuss responses. Its value is not limited to speeches. The schedule, moderated questions, informal conversations and participant contacts can help people identify common patterns across countries and sectors.

No independent attendee survey or post-event assessment establishes what #Disinfo2026 ultimately achieved. The available information describes the announced format and programme, not verified outcomes or every change made during the delivered event.

How the programme was organised

The published structure combined plenary sessions, parallel tracks and optional workshops. That mix is common at a professional conference because it lets the whole audience hear major discussions while allowing specialists to choose sessions relevant to their work.

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Plenary sessions

A plenary puts all participants in one room. Organisers typically use it for opening remarks, field-wide findings, major policy discussions or closing reflections. It creates a shared reference point before attendees divide into smaller groups.

Parallel tracks

Parallel sessions run at the same time in different rooms. They increase the number of subjects that can be covered, but they create a choice: attending one discussion means missing another. A participant tool supplied by the organiser was intended to help registered attendees build a personal agenda and message one another.

Pre-conference workshops

Workshops were scheduled separately from the main programme and had limited seats with separate registration. Unlike a large plenary, a workshop can concentrate on practical methods, a specific investigation or collaborative problem-solving. Limited capacity is usually necessary when exercises require discussion rather than passive listening.

The five programme areas

An organiser update dated 9 September grouped the 2026 programme into five areas:

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  • Solutions: approaches intended to reduce the reach or impact of deceptive information.
  • Enforcement: legal, regulatory or platform responses to abusive campaigns and responsible actors.
  • AI: the effects of artificial-intelligence systems on creating, detecting or distributing misleading material.
  • Investigations: methods for documenting campaigns, tracing networks and preserving evidence.
  • Infospaces: the broader information environments in which narratives circulate, including media, platforms and communities.

Those labels describe the announced scope; they do not by themselves prove that every session reached a particular conclusion or produced a policy commitment.

How access and participation worked

Approval and badges

Attendance requests required organiser approval. Once admitted, participants needed an official badge for venue access. Badge control is a practical security and capacity measure, and it also distinguishes registered participants from people who have simply arrived at the hotel.

Networking

The event description included an informal gathering before the main conference, networking during breaks and meals, and the participant tool for arranging meetings or messages. These elements matter because specialist conferences often produce value through conversations between sessions as much as through the formal presentations.

No remote stream or recordings

#Disinfo2026 was in person only. The organiser said there would be no livestream and no session recordings, and it prohibited attendee filming and audio recording at the venue. Anyone deciding whether to attend therefore had to treat physical presence as a requirement, not an optional upgrade over an online broadcast.

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Historical registration, prices and travel details

The organiser listed 22 September 2026 as the registration deadline. The fees below were late-registration prices, stated without VAT, and applied to the named attendee groups:

Attendee group Late-registration price (excluding VAT) Status
Civil-society members, academics and journalists €230 Historical 2026 price
Government and corporate attendees €390 Historical 2026 price

These figures should not be read as current prices for a future edition. A later conference can change its fee bands, deadline, approval rules or VAT treatment.

The venue was Radisson Blu Lietuva in Vilnius. EU DisinfoLab said that a limited number of discounted rooms had been secured at the hotel for the event. It also placed Vilnius International Airport 9 km from the venue. Both the room allocation and the travel description applied to the 2026 arrangement; travellers planning another edition must check the new organiser and venue information.

How a disinformation conference generally works

#Disinfo2026 illustrates a repeatable conference model. The details vary by organiser, but the reader journey usually follows these stages.

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1. The organiser defines a field-wide question

The host decides which problems deserve a shared forum. A broad event may cover policy, technology, journalism and civil society; a narrower one may focus on elections, artificial intelligence, a region or a particular type of influence operation. The scope determines who is invited and what evidence counts as relevant.

2. Sessions are selected and arranged

Organisers assemble a programme around themes, speakers and formats. Plenaries provide common context, parallel sessions support depth, and workshops allow hands-on discussion. Attendees should read descriptions critically: a session title signals a subject, not a guaranteed finding.

3. Access rules shape the audience

Approval, badges, capacity limits and separate workshop registration determine who can enter each room. Some conferences are open to the public; others are designed for professional participants. Fees may differ for civil society, academia, journalism, government and business, so the access policy is part of the event’s purpose rather than a minor administrative detail.

4. The day alternates between formal and informal exchange

People move between talks, questions, meals and scheduled networking. A personal agenda tool can reduce clashes, but no tool can let one person attend simultaneous sessions. Attendees should decide in advance which discussions are essential and which can be covered through notes from colleagues.

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5. Recording and confidentiality rules apply

Some events publish recordings; others do not. A no-recording rule can protect sensitive testimony or encourage candid discussion, but it also means that people who are absent cannot rely on catching up later. Check this policy before booking travel.

6. Outputs may follow after the event

Possible outputs include a report, recommendations, research partnerships or follow-up meetings. They are not automatic. A programme can be well attended without producing a public document, and a published agenda cannot establish the event’s eventual impact.

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How to assess a future conference

If you are comparing events, use the same questions for each organiser rather than judging by a prominent speaker or dramatic title.

Question Why it matters
What subjects and regions are covered? Shows whether the event matches your information needs.
How are plenaries, parallel sessions and workshops balanced? Reveals whether the experience is broad, specialised or practical.
Who is the intended audience? Helps you judge the likely level of technical and policy discussion.
Is attendance open, approved or invitation-based? Determines whether applying guarantees entry; it usually does not.
Are remote access and recordings available? Changes the travel requirement and your ability to review missed sessions.
What are the total costs? Include registration, VAT, transport, accommodation and meals, not just the headline fee.
Where is the venue and how difficult is the journey? Location affects accessibility, timing and the real cost of attending.

How to avoid falling for disinformation

Identifying intent is difficult, so start with the claim and the evidence rather than with a label.

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  1. Pause before sharing. Urgency, anger and fear can push people to forward a post before checking it.
  2. Separate the claim from the presentation. Copy the specific factual assertion into your notes. A confident tone, logo or professional-looking graphic is not proof.
  3. Check the original source. Look for the full article, document, video or statement instead of relying on a cropped screenshot or a second-hand summary.
  4. Compare independent reporting. Seek agreement from reliable sources that do not all repeat the same unattributed post.
  5. Check date and context. Old photographs, genuine quotations and real statistics can be reused in a misleading setting.
  6. Look for signs of coordination. Identical wording, newly created accounts, unusual bursts of activity or unexplained financial and political incentives can justify further scrutiny, although none alone proves a campaign.
  7. Match your conclusion to the evidence. If you can show that a claim is false but cannot establish the creator’s motive, call it false or misleading rather than asserting disinformation.

Can you attend virtually?

Not for the 2026 edition: the organiser announced no livestream and no recordings, and the format was in person only. That policy is specific to this event and date. Future editions can make a different choice, so check the current event page before assuming that a remote ticket exists.

What is known—and not known—about the 2026 edition

The published information establishes the organiser, location, dates, announced programme categories, access arrangements and in-person format. It does not establish independent attendee satisfaction, the conference’s final outcomes or whether every announced session proceeded exactly as planned. Those are separate questions that require post-event evidence.

The useful lesson is therefore practical rather than promotional: disinformation conferences combine evidence-led discussion with the logistics of a professional meeting. #Disinfo2026 shows how themes, room formats, access controls, networking and recording rules shape what participants can learn and who can take part.

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