A New York Times reporter based in Melbourne was responsible for the leak of personal information of over 600 Australian Jewish members of a WhatsApp Group earlier in 2024, according to a New York Times statement and Wall Street Journal investigation. The New York Times has announced that it will be taking disciplinary action against the reporter, Natasha Frost, after she acknowledged the data breach.
The data was subsequently disseminated online, leading to mass doxxing, threats and harassment against the members of the group by pro-Palestine activists.
Frost, downloaded and shared 900 pages of content from the private WhatsApp group launched by multiple Australian Jews in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre and which become a "lifeline" to its members, according to New York Post and WSJ reports.
The incident, which happened in February, resulted in list called “Zio600," which was used to threaten the people in the WhatsApp group, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time.
The pro-Palestinian activists posted names, photos, and social media pages of many of the 600 members of the group, resulting in online and in-person harassment, threats, and vandalism, the WSJ said.
The Jewish Independent reported that one Jewish family in Melbourne had to close their shop and go into hiding after receiving a message with a photograph of their child saying, “I know where you live." Their shop was vandalized.
One woman, a high-school teacher at a Jewish school in Melbourne, had people call her school to accuse her of being "complicit in genocide" and threaten her, the WSJ reported. The woman installed security cameras into her home as a result of the threats.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry, said in a statement at the time that the list called to mind those created by the Nazis as they sought to murder the Jews of Europe.
Response from reporter, NYT
Frost acknowledged having shared the information with one person, before it was distributed and published online, according to the WSJ.
A spokeswoman for the NYT said that said that “appropriate action” had been taken against Frost.
“It has been brought to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics,” she said. “This was done without the knowledge or approval of The Times.”
In response to the claims against her, Frost, speaking with the WSJ, said that she shared the document with one other person, and that it was subsequently disseminated and misused "without her knowledge or consent."
"I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk," she said. "I deeply regret my decision.”
The Jerusalem Post confirmed that her profile still appears on the NYT website, however, it appears her contact details have been removed.
Doxxing laws
Doxxing is the sharing of personal or identifiable details of a group or individual online, without consent, and with malicious intent. As yet, it is not illegal in Australia, however some measures are in place to protect victims. As a result of the incident, among other things, the Australian government announced it would be considering reforms to the Privacy Act. In March 2024, they began discussing proposed civil reforms to address the practice of doxxing.
Mark Dreyfus, Australia's Attorney-General, introduced legislation to ban doxxing. According to Christoph Schmon, international policy director at civil liberties nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, the incident could catalyze a new law, which would make doxxing illegal. There is no such federal law in the US.
In a February interview with Radio 2GB, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed the incident, saying he had asked the attorney-general to introduce legislation.
This was "not a WhatsApp group that was heavily political, [it was] a WhatsApp group to provide support for each other because of the rise in antisemitism that we've seen," Albanese said.
"The idea that in Australia, someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith, whether they be Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Catholic or Buddhist, is just completely unacceptable."