A New York Times reporter in Australia leaked the names of Jews in Australia on a WhatsApp group that was then leaked to pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists who “doxxed” and targeted them for harassment and vandalism.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Early this year, the contents of a WhatsApp group for Jewish creative professionals and academics, set up in Australia after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, leaked and fell into the hands of pro-Palestinian activists.
The activists posted snippets on social media, along with the names, photos and social-media page links of many of the group’s 600-odd members. Before long, members of the chat group faced online and in-person harassment—including threats and vandalism—repercussions that for some have continued several months later.
Throughout the crisis, it has remained a mystery how the chat thread leaked in the first place. The events were set in motion in January by a New York Times reporter, according to a Wall Street Journal review of the incident and statements from the Times.
The New York Post added:
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 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 apologized and said that she would not be making further comments.
The Times said it had no knowledge of its reporter’s actions.
Jews around the world have experienced a rise in antisemitism since the Hamas terror attack of October 7.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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