A pro-Beijing online influence campaign, known as Dragonbridge, has targeted major Australian, U.S., and Canadian rare earth miners who pose a threat to China’s dominance of supply chains for the precious resource.
U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant has been tracking Dragonbridge since June 2019, revealing that the group comprised a network of “thousands of inauthentic accounts” spread across social media platforms, websites, and forums promoting the political interests of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Earlier this year, Mandiant identified fake social media and discussion forum accounts posing as Texan residents feigning concern over environmental and health issues surrounding the construction of a major rare earths processing facility by Australian giant Lynas, the world’s largest rare earth miner outside China….