Rare earths | Western producers targeted by Chinese-influenced campaign

(Paris) A pro-China influencer campaign is currently using social media to curb the rise of Western producers of rare earths, according to a report by US cybersecurity firm Mandiant released on Tuesday.

China now controls 80% of these strategic metals, necessary for example in the manufacture of smart phone chips, LCD screens, military equipment or wind turbines. offshore.

Western industrialists in Australia, Canada or the United States are trying to loosen the vice by in turn launching the production of rare earths.

But they are being targeted by a galaxy of fake social media accounts aligned with Chinese interests, according to Mandiant, a company close to US authorities and known for its digital forensic capabilities.

For several months now, the thousands of fake accounts spotted by Mandiant have, for example, been sowing content hostile to the Australian company Lynas Rare Earths on discussion groups, forums and other websites.

For example, they attack this company on its environmental record or call for demonstrations against its project for a new factory in Texas, reports Mandiant.

The fake accounts notably claim to be those of residents of Texas, worried about the environmental and health risks associated with the new plant.

In June 2022, other companies, the Canadian mining company Appia Rare Earths and Uranium and the American company USA Rare Earths, were targeted by the pro-China galaxy, dubbed “Dragonbridge” by Mandiant.

Mandiant does not specify how the fake accounts were identified. But generally speaking, they exhibit “the same indicators of inauthenticity and coordination,” Mandiant says.

They were probably created in series, in batches, between “March 2022 and June 2022” and they include images found on the internet for profile photos.

Some, to be more credible, also publish “apolitical content”, such as “inspirational phrases, wellness or travel advice, or sports information”.

In total, this anti-rare earth campaign showed “greater sophistication” of Dragonbridge compared to previous actions, including a capacity for “micro-targeting” of content, notes Mandiant.

But the implementation showed weaknesses, which “limited the ability of the perpetrators to generate real mobilization” against the new minesites and factories, according to Mandiant.