China trying to ‘control’ debate in Australia, intelligence insider warns

A network of some 5000 AI-run accounts on social media site X is just one part of an all out “information war” China is waging against Australia, an intelligence insider and a counter-interference expert have warned. The “Green Cicada Network”, uncovered by Canberra-based CyberCX, mostly aims to muddy wedge US political issues as the country gears up for its presidential election in November. The cybersecurity firm said it also picked up some Australia-focused activity, with the network spouting divisive content about nuclear energy, the embattled CFMEU and the government’s immigration policies. Though the situation is far graver, according to the intelligence source, who has intimate knowledge of foreign interference activities in Australia. “They use a network of private companies,” the source said. “Just like Wagner are technically killers-for-hire but really under Russian control, these are CCP proxies under Beijing’s thumb.” They said the CCP “are masters of non-attribution”, meaning it operates in ways that allow it to deflect and deny responsibility. A strategy of “plausible deniability.” “They can just say these are private companies doing this. They’re patriots,” the source said. But it goes “beyond meddling.” The end goal is not only to “control the narrative”, but “control the infrastructure” -- the means through which political discourse takes place. “China’s goal is to subjugate Australia cognitively, to control the narrative and control the way [Australians] think,” they said. CyberCX said most of the Green Cicada Network accounts are inactive, concluding “the network is likely an information operation capability in a development or experimental phase”. “If ramped up to full capacity, the Green Cicada Network could be used to conduct largescale disinformation operations, amplify polarising content to sow division, and undermine trust in civil and government institutions,” the firm said. It did not draw direct ties to the Chinese government but said the network is linked to Beijing’s Tsinghua University and Chinese AI company Zhipu AI. Chief strategy officer Alastair MacGibbon said the find “is one of the largest ever documented networks of inauthentic accounts discovered on a social media platform and could be the first significant China-related information operation run by generative AI.” This is Beijing’s modus operandi, according to Jorge Conde, Cognitive Warfare Scientist at the Australian National University, who specialises in Chinese counter-interference and information warfare. “China is increasingly using a wide network of domestic private enterprise acting as surrogate militias to deploy their influence and information warfare operations,” he told NewsWire. He said it is clear Beijing’s goal is to “replicate globally” what it has “achieved successfully domestically.” Simply put, China is seeking “total and complete domination of liberal democracies” and is using “mass societal influence operations” to do it. In 2022, US cybersecurity firm Mandiant exposed another Chinese-linked social media campaign targeting Australian rare earths mining company, Lynas Rare Earths. The so-called “DRAGONBRIDGE” network spread disinformation about Lynas’ operations, which challenge China’s global dominance in supplying the critical minerals that power everything from electric cars to smartphones. It did so while promoting pro-CCP narratives using human-run accounts, unlike the AI-run accounts in the Green Cicada Network. Mr Conde said China had become more adept than “any other country” at using AI in information warfare, even though the US was still leading the AI development race globally. “China has developed the art of using social media and AI to create and amplify narratives using human and synthetic generated information to destabilise liberal democracies,” he said. “In the information space, there are no borders, which makes us particularly vulnerable to China’s ability to leverage the weaponisation of disinformation. “We need to respond quickly and swiftly with legislative countermeasures to protect our cognitive sovereignty. “Failure to do so could result in an Australia 20 years from now looking like what China wants it to look like rather than what Australians decide it should be.” ASIO earlier this month raised the terror threat level from possible to probable for the first time in a decade, citing deteriorating social cohesion as a key factor. Social media is contributing to that, the security agency said at the time. ASIO did not comment on Chinese influence operations, but has previously called social media a “vector for foreign interference” through which “foreign powers seek to do Australia harm”.