Digital campaign in China used social media to target mining companies: report

A pro-China propaganda campaign has used fake social media accounts to try to stir up opposition, including protests, against mining companies that challenge China's business interests, US cybersecurity firm Mandiant said on Tuesday. . While politically motivated disinformation campaigns on social media have become increasingly common, researchers say such an operation targeting a specific industry of strategic importance to China is rare. The digital campaign, known to researchers as Dragonbridge, has flooded Twitter and Facebook in recent months with posts raising environmental and health concerns about the operations of three major mining companies: Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. in Australia, Appia…