China and Russia were using the heightened anxiety around the coronavirus pandemic to undermine Western democracies by spreading disinformation online, Australia's foreign minister said.
The disinformation contributed to a "climate of fear and division" when the world needed cooperation and understanding, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a speech at the Australian National University, a text of which was released by her office late Tuesday.
"Concerningly, we have seen disinformation pushed and promoted around the coronavirus pandemic and around some of the social pressures that have been exacerbated by the pandemic," Payne said.