NYT Reporter Responsible for Leaking Jewish WhatsApp Chat Group Data

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

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

The group of more than 600 people was created following the October 7 terrorist attack launched by Hamas last year.

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS SPREAD TO AUSTRALIA AS CAMPS SPRING UP

A journalist from the newspaper allegedly shared data from a WhatsApp chat group for Jewish professionals in Melbourne, Australia, with another person earlier this year. The sensitive information was then circulated 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 region.

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

“It has come to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of an article to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics,” a New York Times spokeswoman said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

JERRY SEINFELD MOCKS ANTI-ISRAEL HECKLEURS DURING MELBOURNE SHOW: YOU JUST ‘GAVE A JEW MORE MONEY’

“This was done without the knowledge or approval of The Times,” the spokeswoman said.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus speaks to the media in Canberra, Australia. Dreyfus has proposed legislation to formally recognise doxxing as a crime, following the WhatsApp data breach that exposed the personal information of more than six hundred people in Melbourne. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

Frost remains a staff member at The New York Times. She provided a statement to The Wall Street Journal through a company spokesperson.

“I shared this document with only one person. Its subsequent dissemination and misuse occurred entirely without my knowledge or consent,” Frost said, according to the Journal.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

She added: “I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others in great danger. I deeply regret my decision.”

Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s Jewish attorney general, was inspired by the data leak and the harassment that followed to propose a law explicitly banning doxxing.

“The increasing use of online platforms to harm people through practices such as doxxing, the malicious disclosure of their personal information without their permission, is a deeply worrying development,” Dreyfus said.