As world leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gather in Madrid for the first day of NATO’s historic conference, there is more proof of the clandestine ways in which China continues to undermine Australia’s interest and economic growth.

A Chinese- linked campaign is spreading disinformation to undermine the resources sector in the west, targeting leading Australian mineral company Lynas Rare Earth in an effort to drum up protest activity to prevent its expansion into the USA and Malaysia.

US cyber security company Mandiant Threat Intelligence’s vice president John Hultquist told Liam Bartlett the company had discovered thousands of fake accounts on social media platforms that spread messages in favour of China and, by extension, putting the boots into Lynas.

“In this case, one of the things they did was pretend to be Texans, where Lynas is building a plant, and these actors raised concerns about the plant, mainly focusing on environmental concerns, but all of these accounts were fake,” he told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings.

Tap PLAY to hear what else the fake accounts are targeting