KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Fake accounts may have been behind social media disinformation campaigns in Malaysia, according to Lynas Rare Earths.

In a statement Thursday (June 30), the Australian-based rare-earths mining company said it had been subjected to a social media disinformation campaign for some years, by accounts associated with the Dragonbridge campaign.

Lynas said this was disclosed in a briefing by Mandiant, an American cybersecurity firm.

The report also revealed evidence of direct and mutual engagement between the pro-China Dragonbridge social media accounts, and that the Malaysian anti-Lynas activists were not driven by actual community or environmental concerns. 

"This demonstrates the potential for social media accounts to be manipulated to promote disinformation or to amplify the voices of activists with a self-serving agenda," the statement said. 

Previously, it was reported that a digital campaign known as Dragonbridge had flooded Twitter and Facebook in recent months, with posts raising environmental and health concerns over the operations of several major mining firms.