When #Disinfo2026 opened in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, white tape and stickers covered the logos of three government backers on its banners and printed materials. The gathering brought together hundreds of researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers.
Canada, Lithuania and the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, had withdrawn their sponsorship of the conference, organised by the independent Brussels non-profit EU DisinfoLab. Their logos had also been removed from the conference website in the days before the event.
The withdrawals followed pressure from the Trump administration on diplomatic officials from the EU, Canada and Lithuania, according to the brief. The State Department had instructed US embassies in several European countries and the EU to raise Washington’s concerns about the conference with host governments.
Three people familiar with the matter, including European officials, confirmed that the State Department had contacted multiple governments over their support for the event.
The dispute centred on a programme that examined whether the United States had itself become a source of foreign information manipulation and interference, or FIMI, in Europe. One Arctic panel was due to consider “growing evidence that the United States has, in specific Arctic contexts, operated as a FIMI actor.”
The programme had been finalised in June and remained unchanged as of 9 September, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Lithuania’s foreign ministry said it had cancelled its participation because parts of the programme differed from the government’s official position. Global Affairs Canada said it had taken issue with the framing of some panels and revised its participation.
The European External Action Service said it had asked for its logo to be removed because of the programme’s content. An EU spokesperson said the organisers had framed some discussions in a way that did not align with official EU positions.
A Global Affairs Canada official had been due to chair Thursday’s Arctic session, then withdrew from that role.
Public sponsorship was withdrawn, though participation did not end altogether. The EU continued to fund the conference and European External Action Service representatives remained on the programme to present research. Canadian officials also continued to take part.
The French government remained a sponsor.
Ben Shultz of the American Sunlight Project, a presenter at the conference, called the withdrawal by three governments a ‘shock’ and questioned whether they had been pressured.
Nina Jankowicz, a former US official and disinformation expert who briefly led the Biden administration’s Disinformation Governance Board, said she understood that Washington had pressured Lithuania and Canada to withdraw. She also criticised state control over academic programming.
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