DIsrupting operations, strengthening resilience.
Counter Disinformation Network
2026 Conference
Brussels, Belgium
28th September, 2026
Behind the Influence
Disrupting Influence Operations and Strengthening Democratic Resilience
Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) has evolved into an active ongoing attack on our society. Today, European institutions, critical industries, and civil society face highly coordinated, multi-platform threat networks designed to destabilise democratic processes, exploit societal fault lines, and undermine strategic sectors, from renewable energy to electoral integrity.
As threat actors deploy sophisticated cross-border networks, democracy defenders need to proactively disrupt influence operations through proactive whole-of-society action.
The 'Behind the Influence' conference takes a strategic step towards proactive collaborative operational disruption. Bringing together OSINT investigators, policy makers, cybersecurity professionals, and industry leaders, this edition centres on targeting the infrastructure, behaviours, and financial models behind hybrid threats.
Key Strategic Tracks
Election Integrity
Analysing recent electoral manipulation cycles, platform ad governance, and persistent covert networks targeting democratic processes across Europe.
Cross-Sector Resilience
Examining how hybrid influence operations intersect with domestic radicalisation and target private industries, from energy to infrastructure, to distort markets and policy-making.
Operational Disruption
Deploying actionable tools, such as the European launch of the DISRUPT Toolkit, to directly target the threat actors, infrastructure, and tactics that drive information manipulation.
Our Speakers
Dr. Virginie Andre
EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation
Special Adviser in Strategic Communications
Sarah Azau
European Heat Pump Association (EHPA)
Communications & Events Director
Peter Benzoni
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Senior Research Manager
Joel Boehme
Clean Heat Europe (EHPA)
Campaign Manager
Richard Chalk
REOC Communications
Dr. Joana Deus De Pereira
EU Knowledge for the Prevention of Radicalisation | RUSI Europe
Expert
Lucina Di Meco
#ShePersisted
Co-Founder
Rositsa Dzhekova
Centre for the Study of Democracy
Director of the Democracy Shield Task Force
Dr. Vivian Gerrand
Australian National University
Associate Lecturer
Adrian Hiel
Electrification Alliance
Director
Bjørn Ihler
Revontulet
Founder & CEO
Sorin Ioniță
Expert Forum (EFOR)
President
Tomáš Kriššák
Gerulata Technologies
Senior Strategic Communications Consultant
Iveta Kupková
Hybrid Warfare Independent Expert
Galen Lamphere-Englund
Extremism & Gaming Research Network (EGRN)
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Saman Nazari
Alliance4Europe
Lead Researcher
Andreas Jahrehorn Önnefors
Fojo Media Institute/Fojo Verify, Linnaeus University
Project Manager & Researcher
Ioana Petcu
E-Mobility Europe
Public Affairs Director
Omri Preiss
Alliance4Europe
Managing Director
Julia Smirnova
Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie (CeMAS)
Senior Researcher
Jakub Szymik
CEE Digital Democracy Watch
Founder & Executive Director
Catherine Van de Heyning
University of Antwerp
Professor | Expert, Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council
Robert van der Noordaa
Trollrensics
Hybrid Warfare & Troll Farm Expert
Maria Voltsichina
Alliance4Europe
OSINT Researcher
Olga Wałkuska
NASK
Cybersecurity Awareness Specialist
Jerry Yu
DoubleThink Lab
Analyst Lead, Digital Intelligence Team
Aramis Zinke
WindEurope
Senior Strategic Communications Officer
Program
Plenary (Guichet Room)
08:30 — 09:00 | Arrival & Registration
Participants check-in and welcome coffee.
09:00 — 09:30 | Opening Remarks
- Omri Preiss, Managing Director, Alliance4Europe
09:30 – 10:45 | Where FIMI Meets Radicalisation: Understanding the Intersection
Foreign influence operations do not operate in isolation: they can exploit existing grievances, extremist narratives and polarised information environments. Drawing on cases and research from across Europe, this panel examines where FIMI and radicalisation intersect — and what these connections mean for prevention and response.
- Dr. Virginie Andre, Special Adviser in Strategic Communications, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation
- Dr. Joana Deus De Pereira, Expert, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Europe
- Rositsa Dzhekova, Expert, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation
- Dr. Vivian Gerrand, Associate Lecturer, Australian National University (online)
Moderator: Richard Chalk, REOC Communications
Chatham House rules apply.
10:45 – 11:15 | Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:15 | Business Under Influence
Companies and industries can be both targets of influence operations and important actors in detecting and responding to them. This conversation explores what businesses can do when manipulation targets their sectors, customers or policy environments, and how they can contribute to a wider democratic response.
- Joel Boehme, Campaign Manager, Clean Heat Europe (European Heat Pump Association)
- Adrian Hiel, Director, Electrification Alliance
- Ioana Petcu, Public Affairs Director, E-Mobility Europe
- Aramis Zinke, Senior Strategic Communications Advisor, WindEurope
Moderator: Sarah Azau, Communications & Events Director, European Heat Pump Association
12:15 – 12:30 | Morning Wrap-Up & Key Takeaways
12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch
13:30 – 14:40 | European Launch of the Disrupt Toolkit
Alliance4Europe will introduce Disrupt, a whole-of-society methodology and technology designed to move from identifying influence operations to actively disrupting them. The session will combine the methodology, experiences from local implementation and a live demonstration, while exploring how DISRUPT can contribute to the implementation of the European Democracy Shield.
- Saman Nazari, Lead Researcher, Alliance4Europe
- Dr. Rositsa Dzhekhova, Director of the Democracy Shield Task Force, Centre for the Study of Democracy
- Sorin Ioniță, President, Expert Forum (EFOR)
- Jakub Szymik, Founder & Executive Director, CEE Digital Democracy Watch
Moderator: Olga Wałkuska, Cybersecurity Awareness Specialist, NASK
14:40 – 15:00 | Q&A — Disrupt & European Democracy Shield
Moderator: Omri Preiss, Managing Director, Alliance4Europe
15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break
15:30 – 17:00 | Behind the Investigations: Influence Operations & Elections
What can we learn when we put investigations from different elections, countries and threat actors side by side? This panel compares concrete cases to identify recurring tactics and vulnerabilities, understand how influence operations adapt to different electoral contexts, and examine where intervention and disruption are possible.
- Julia Smirnova, Senior Researcher, Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie (CeMAS)
- Bjørn Ihler, Founder & CEO, Revontulet (online)
- Maria Voltsichina, OSINT Researcher, Alliance4Europe
- Robert van der Noordaa, Hybrid Warfare & Troll Farm Expert, Trollrensics
- Jerry Yu, Analyst Lead, Digital Intelligence Team, DoubleThink Lab (online)
Moderator: Peter Benzoni, Senior Research Manager, Institute for Strategic Dialogue
16:45 – 17:15 | Closing Remarks
- Omri Preiss, Managing Director, Alliance4Europe
- Saman Nazari, Lead Researcher, Alliance4Europe
Side Events (Royale Room)
09:45 – 11:00 | Tools in Action: Tackling Influence Operations
A hands-on side session where organisations demonstrate tools and methodologies for countering influence operations - monitoring, detection, analysis, investigation and response - with direct access to the developers and practitioners behind them.
- Tomáš Kriššák, Senior Strategic Communications Consultant, Gerulata Technologies
- And more to be confirmed!
Moderator: Iveta Kupková, Hybrid Warfare Independent Expert
11:15 – 12:30 | Fojo Roundtable: The Amplification Dilemma
A closed-door roundtable of journalists, editors and FIMI investigators exploring how to report on influence operations accurately without amplifying them, drawing on lessons from terrorism reporting to identify practical principles for future guidelines.
Keynote: Andreas Jahrehorn Önnefors, Project Manager & Researcher, Fojo Media Institute/Fojo Verify, Linnaeus University (Sweden)
- Richard Chalk, REOC Communications
Moderator & Speaker: Dr. Virigine Andre, Special Adviser in Strategic Communications, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation
By invitation only, Chatham House rules apply.
15:15 – 16:00 | Democracy Shield: How Will it Deliver?
A closed-door working session examining what the European Democracy Shield and its new Centre mean in practice for implementation, funding and civil society involvement, doubling as the kick-off of the Friends of the Democracy Shield Working Group to set shared priorities and next steps.
Moderator: Omri Preiss, Managing Director, Alliance4Europe
By invitation only, Chatham House rules apply.
16:00 – 17:00 | Gender Under Influence: Building a Coordinated Response to Gendered Influence Operations
A closed-door roundtable of researchers, investigators and practitioners examining how gender is exploited as a target, narrative and vector in influence operations, and identifying evidence, capability and coordination gaps.
- Dr. Virginie Andre, Special Adviser in Strategic Communications, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation
- Dr. Joana Deus De Pereira, Expert, EU Knowledge Hub for the Prevention of Radicalisation, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Europe
- Galen Lamphere-Englund, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Extremism & Gaming Research Network (EGRN) (online)
- Lucina Di Meco, Co-Founder, #ShePersisted (online)
- Catherine Van de Heyning, Professor, University of Antwerp | Expert, Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council
Moderator: Iveta Kupková, Hybrid Warfare Independent Expert
By invitation only, Chatham House rules apply.
There's more to it!
European Parliament Side Event
29th September, 15:00-17:00
The conversation continues on 29 September at the European Parliament with a special event organised by the Democracy Tech Alliance, in partnership with Trollrensics, the HEIO consortium and Alliance4Europe.
The session, 'Gaming the Algorithm, Targeting Democracy: How Large-Scale Networks Operating from outside Europe Are Exploiting X to Manipulate European Election Information Spaces', will present and discuss findings from an investigation into large-scale coordinated inauthentic behaviour networks operating from West Africa and Southeast Asia, examining how they exploit vulnerabilities in platform moderation and algorithms on X to flood information spaces around elections across Europe and manipulating the algorithm.
For more information and registrations, reach out to us.
Our Supporters
The Counter Disinformation Network Conference exists because a wide coalition of organisations, researchers and practitioners choose to contribute their time, expertise and resources to it. The conference, the investigations it presents and the DISRUPT Toolkit it launches are only possible with that support. Our thanks go to everyone who backed this year's edition. If your organisation would like to get involved in future editions of the Counter Disinformation Network Conference, get in touch here.
Our Mission and Vision
Alliance4Europe is committed to empowering citizens and strengthening democracy in Europe. We bring communities, networks and movements together to cooperate, develop impactful solutions, and launch campaigns that drive change.
