The New York Times said it took disciplinary action against a reporter who acknowledged leaking data about a WhatsApp group chat for Jewish business people that led to its members being doxxed and harassed by activists sympathetic to Palestinians.
Natasha Frost, a Times reporter who was based in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this year, downloaded and shared 900 pages of content from the private WhatsApp chat that was launched by Jewish professionals in response to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists that claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 Israelis.
Frost acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that she shared the information with one individual before it fell into the hands of anti-Zionist activists.
Hundreds of the group chat participants were then shocked to discover that their personal information was circulating online — leading to online and in-person harassment that escalated to the point where some were forced to leave their homes.
A Times spokesperson told the Journal that the newspaper had “reviewed the matter and appropriate action” was taken when it became aware of Frost’s actions.
“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,” a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.
“This was done without the knowledge or approval of the Times.”
Frost told the Journal that she shared the information with one person who then disseminated the details without her permission.
“Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent,” Frost said. “I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk.”
Frost added: “I deeply regret my decision and I have no plans to comment further.”
Frost gained access to the WhatsApp group in November, just weeks after the Hamas attack.
In December, several members of the group began agitating for action against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation over its decision to hire journalist Antoinette Lattouf as a radio host on a part-time basis.
Lattouf, a native-born Australian who is of Lebanese descent, sparked controversy with social media posts accusing Israel of war crimes.
ABC terminated Lattouf midway through her five-day contract — prompting her to file a complaint alleging that she was the victim of racial discrimination.
Frost’s co-byline appeared on a Times story that was published on Jan. 23 about the Lattouf firing.
Days before the story went live, Frost left the WhatsApp group. Soon afterward, details from the group chat appeared on various websites and were widely shared among pro-Palestinian internet users.
A spreadsheet was created that listed the names, photographs, job titles and quotes from the WhatsApp group.
One of the WhatsApp group members, Joshua Moshe, said he and his wife started receiving threatening phone calls and emails calling them baby-killers and genocidal maniacs.
They also received a text message showing a photo of their 5-year-old son.
Moshe’s gift shop in Melbourne was vandalized with graffiti and stickers of crossed-out Israeli flags urging would-be customers to boycott the store.
Moshe ended up shuttering his shop. He then took his wife and child and left their neighborhood.
A Jewish high school teacher based in Melbourne who also participated in the WhatsApp chat said her school received phone calls and threats from anonymous callers who accused her of being “complicit in genocide.”
Other professionals who took part in the WhatsApp chat reported losing job and business opportunities.
The incident prompted Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s attorney general, to propose a law that would criminalize doxxing.
Dreyfus said the new laws would strengthen Australian protections against hate speech, but provided scant detail about how they would work.
“The increasing use of online platforms to harm people through practices like doxxing, the malicious release of their personal information without their permission, is a deeply disturbing development,” Dreyfus, who is Jewish, told reporters.
“The recent targeting of members of the Australian Jewish community through those practices like doxxing was shocking but, sadly, this is far from being an isolated incident,” Dreyfus added.
With Post wires
