NYT reporter leaked info of WhatsApp group for Jewish businesses, leading to doxxing and harassment

The New York Times has taken disciplinary action against an employee who leaked the personal information of a group of Jewish business owners earlier this year.

Personal information belonging to hundreds of Australians in a private WhatsApp group chat for Jewish business professionals began appearing online early this year, with affected individuals reportedly receiving death threats and vandalism against their businesses.

The group of over 600 individuals was created following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack launched by Hamas last year. 

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A reporter with the newspaper reportedly shared data from a WhatsApp groupchat for Jewish business professionals in Melbourne, Australia, with another individual early this year. The sensitive information then appeared online, leading to death threats and vandalism. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Natasha Frost, a NYT reporter based in Melbourne, Australia, is accused of leaking hundreds of pages of data from a private WhatsApp group for Jewish businesses in the area. 

Frost told The Wall Street Journal that she only shared the data with one other person before it was then released widely to anti-Israeli protesters. 

"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 New York Times said, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

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"This was done without the knowledge or approval of The Times," the spokeswoman clarified.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus addresses the media in Canberra, Australia. Dreyfus proposed a law to officially recognize doxxing as a crime following the WhatsApp leak that released the personal information of over six hundred people in Melbourne. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

Frost remains on staff at The New York Times. She offered a statement to The Wall Street Journal via a company spokesperson.

"I shared this document with one individual. Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent," Frost said, according to the Journal.

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She added, "I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk. I deeply regret my decision." 

Mark Dreyfus, the Jewish attorney general of Australia, was inspired by the data leak and subsequent harassment to propose a law explicitly outlawing doxxing.

"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," said Dreyfus.