Surfshark ‘proud’ to have backed Disinfo 2026 after governments pulled out under political pressure
Surshark has said it remained a sponsor at Disinfo2026 to protect open discourse from being silenced
Surfshark has expressed pride in continuing its sponsorship of Disinfo2026, despite the withdrawing of support from the EU’s diplomatic service, Canada, and Lithuania. The VPN provider released a statement emphasizing its commitment to intellectual freedom and the importance of safeguarding the free exchange of ideas. The two-day conference, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, gathered hundreds of experts to address disinformation and online deception.
The decision to keep sponsoring the event came after governments pulled out due to political pressure over a panel discussion that labeled the US as a "foreign information threat." The controversy led to the removal of the logos of the affected sponsors from the event website and signage, leaving conference materials with white stickers covering the logos.
Despite the diplomatic issues, Surfshark maintained its support for independent research and open debate as a means to protect people's digital lives. The VPN shared research findings that half of the surveyed individuals cannot identify bots or distinguish between AI-generated and real social media accounts, leaving them vulnerable to digital threats.
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