How a New York Times reporter caused the Australian Jewish doxing scandal

In February, The Jewish Independent broke the story about the leaking (‘doxing”) of personal details of 600 members of a Jewish WhatsApp support group by anti-Zionist activists, leading to death threats against a Melbourne family, the ruin of their business and months of vilification for many others whose details were disclosed.

The identities of those who leaked the details of the Jewish creatives were soon discovered and published. But one crucial aspect of the saga has remained unknown: how did the information get into their hands in the first place?

Six months on, the source has been revealed and the story has gone international, enmeshing one of the world’s most prestigious newspapers, The New York Times, with one of its journalists named in media reports last month as Ground Zero of the leak.

The reporter’s name is Natasha Frost, a Times reporter based in Melbourne, who was an early member of the WhatsApp group,” the Wall Street Journal reported, in a story republished by The Australian on August 27.

“Frost downloaded about 900 pages of content from the chat thread and shared it with the subject of an article she had worked on. Later, the information wound up in the hands of the activists,” the WSJ report said.

The New York Times said it had taken “appropriate action” against Natasha Frost but did not elaborate on what that was, the WSJ added, and that Frost remains on staff. Frost has not named to whom she passed the information.

But she said in a statement released by The Times: “I shared this document with one individual. Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent. I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk. I deeply regret my decision,” the WSJ reported.

The WhatsApp group was founded in October, in response to a wave of anti-Zionist hostility after the Hamas attacks that sparked the Gaza war. Frost was invited to the group in early November after she had written a story about the revival of Yiddish in Melbourne and had become friendly with one of the Yiddish activists she interviewed.

Although the WhatsApp group was envisaged as a support vehicle and not intended as a forum for political debate, some members veered into advocacy. “In December, some members of the group shared a call-to-action to challenge the impartiality of Antoinette Lattouf, a writer who had been given a five-day gig hosting a radio morning show for the ABC,” the WSJ reported. “Members of another WhatsApp group, for Jewish lawyers, also engaged in a similar effort.”

The ABC terminated Lattouf’s gig early on the grounds that her use of social media “had not complied with a direction”. Lattouf denied the allegation and has mounted several challenges to her “unlawful termination”.

Frost co-wrote a story about the internal tensions around the ABC’s decision. “Several days before the story, Frost texted an administrator of the WhatsApp group to say that she was leaving the group to avoid, among other things, any perception that she would violate the privacy of its members. She said it was likely she would write about Lattouf,” the WSJ said.

“Around the time the Times story was published, some details from the WhatsApp group began to leak out online on a youth-focused news and entertainment site. As more material from the chat began circulating via the pro-Palestinian activists, members of the WhatsApp group began to face harassment.”

Former editor-in-chief of The Age, Michael Gawenda, was scathing about the New York Times’ response to the incident. “Why has the Times not covered this story beyond being forced to admit to a Wall Street Journal reporter that the Times journalist had behaved inappropriately? … What responsibility does the Times editors take for what happened (to those scores of Jewish Australians who were doxed as a result of what the reporter did?)”

Jeremy Leibler, the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, also called on the NYT to take a more active response.  “The impact of this leak and alleged breach of journalistic standards on doxxed members of the Jewish creative community has been profound,” he said.

“We expect The New York Times will undertake a thorough investigation, and anyone found to be knowingly complicit in the dissemination of this material should be held appropriately accountable.”

Jewish philanthropists have said they are in ­“despair” as they push back against the antisemitism that has ­exploded in the wake of the Israel-Gaza conflict, prompting Jewish ­donors withdraw or redirect their funding deals with environmental, women’s or arts groups.

Lillian Kline, head of philanthropy for the Victor Smorgon group, said the fallout from the ­Israel-Gaza war “has had a massive impact on, not just Jewish philanthropy, but philanthropy across the board in Australia’’ and left some Jewish donor families in “despair’’.

“For Jewish people it has led to absolutely a re-examination of strategic priorities of funding, and there were many conversations in the wake of October 7 to strategically fund both Jewish and non-Jewish organisations in the wake of rising anti-Semitism,’’ she said.

READ MORE
Death threats, boycotts target Jewish creatives (The Jewish Independent)

How a NYT reporter’s leak led to an Australian uproar (The Australian)

New York Times doxing scandal is a shameful story of failed media ethics (The Australian)

NYT must investigate chat leak further, says Jewish Australian lawyer (AFR)

Jewish donors are pulling and redirecting their funds as they ‘despair’ at rise of anti-Semitism (The Australian)