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Data leak about Australian Jews in early 2024 was the fault of a NYT journalist

A New York Times A Melbourne-based reporter was responsible for leaking the personal data of over 600 Australian Jewish members of a WhatsApp group in early 2024, according to a New York Times Statement and Wall Street Journal Investigation. The New York Times has announced that it will take legal action against reporter Natasha Frost after she admitted the data breach.

The data was subsequently spread online, leading to mass doxxing as well as threats and harassment against the group's members by pro-Palestinian activists.

Frost downloaded and shared 900 pages of content from the private WhatsApp group that was set up by several Australian Jews after the October 7 massacre and which became a “lifeline” for its members, according to New York Post And WSJ reports.

The incident occurred in February and resulted in a list called “Zio600” being used to threaten the people in the WhatsApp group, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agencyy at that time.

The pro-Palestinian activists published names, photos and social media pages of many of the group's 600 members, leading to online and in-person harassment, threats and vandalism. WSJ said.

Pro-Palestinian protesters block the hotel housing families of Israeli hostages, Melbourne, Australia, November 29, 2023 (Source: Courtesy)

The Jewish Independent reported that a Jewish family in Melbourne had to close their business and go into hiding after receiving a message with a photo of their child saying, “I know where you live.” Their business was vandalized.

A woman, a high school teacher at a Jewish school in Melbourne, received calls from people at her school accusing her of “complicity in genocide” and threatening to WSJ reported. In response to the threats, the woman installed surveillance cameras in her house.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry, said in a statement at the time that the list was reminiscent of those compiled by the Nazis in their efforts to murder the Jews of Europe.

Reporter's response, NYT

Frost admitted to passing the information on to a person before it was distributed and published online, according to the WSJ.

A spokeswoman for the NYT said that “appropriate measures” had been taken against frost.

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“We were made aware that a New York Times A reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to help the person with a private matter, which is a clear violation of our ethics,” she said. “This was done without the knowledge or consent of The times.”

In response to the allegations against her, Frost told the WSJsaid she had given the document to another person and that it had subsequently been distributed and misused “without her knowledge or consent.”

“I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others in terrible danger,” she said. “I deeply regret my decision.”

The Jerusalem Post cconfirmed that her profile still appears on the NYT website, but her contact information appears to have been removed.

Doxxing Laws

Doxxing is the sharing of personal or identifiable information about a group or individual online without their consent and with malicious intent. It is not currently illegal in Australia, but there are some measures in place to protect victims. As a result of the incident, the Australian government announced, among other things, that it would consider reforms to privacy law. In March 2024, they began discussing proposed civil law reforms to combat the practice of doxxing.

Mark Dreyfus, Australia's attorney general, has introduced legislation banning doxxing. According to Christoph Schmon, director of international policy at the civil liberties nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, the incident could trigger a new law that would make doxxing illegal. There is no such federal law in the United States.

In an interview with Radio 2GB in February, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke about the incident and said he had asked the Attorney-General to introduce appropriate legislation.

This was “not a WhatsApp group that was strongly political, [it was] We have created a WhatsApp group to support each other because we are seeing a rise in anti-Semitism,” Albanese said.

“The idea that anyone in Australia should be attacked because of their religion, because of their beliefs, whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic or Buddhist, is just completely unacceptable.”



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