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New York Times Reporter Apologizes for Leaking Personal Data From Jewish Group Chat Later Used to Harass Jews
A taxi passes by in front of The New York Times head office, Feb. 7, 2013. Photo: Reuters / Carlo Allegri / File.
A reporter for The New York Times has apologized for leaking data from a WhatsApp group chat for Jews in Australia that was then published online by anti-Israel activists who also harassed members of the chat.
Natasha Frost told The Wall Street Journal she shared the information from the group chat with only one person, who disseminated the data without her permission.
“Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent,” she said in a statement shared by a Times spokesperson. “I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk. I deeply regret my decision, and I have no plans to comment further.”
The New York Times has taken disciplinary measures against Frost as a result of the incident. “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 spokesperson for the newspaper told The Wall Street Journal. “We have reviewed the matter and taken appropriate action.”
Frost — who is based in Melbourne, Australia — writes The New York Times’ weekday newsletter, The Europe Morning Briefing. She joined the publication in 2020 and before that worked for other media outlets such as Radio New Zealand and the BBC. She was raised in New Zealand and Singapore, and is a citizen of Austria and the United Kingdom. She graduated from the University of Oxford and Columbia Journalism School. Her latest piece for the Times was published on Monday.
In November, Frost obtained access to a WhatsApp group for Jewish creative professionals and academics in Australia that was set up in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. In December, several members of the group called for action against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) because of its decision to hire Lebanese-Australian journalist Antoinette Lattouf to host a Sydney radio show for five days. On social media, Lattouf has criticized Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes and genocide.
ABC ultimately cut Lattouf’s contract short and she filed a complaint, alleging that she faced racial discrimination and an unlawful dismissal. Frost co-wrote a story about Lattouf’s firing that was published by The New York Times on Jan. 23. Frost left the WhatsApp group chat days before the story went live and personal data from the chat was leaked online not long afterward.
During her time in the group chat, which had roughly 600 members, Frost downloaded and shared 900 pages worth of content that was later obtained by anti-Israel activists and widely shared online. The activists called it the “Zio600” list and published online a transcript of conversations from the group chat, as well as a spreadsheet that included names, photos, job titles, links to their social media accounts, and other personal details of many of the group’s members. Some of those mentioned in the leaked data were also harassed online and in person.
One Jewish member of the chat, gift shop owner Joshua Moshe, said he and his wife received hateful emails and phone calls in which they were called baby killers and genocidal maniacs. The couple’s shop in northern Melbourne was vandalized several times, and someone left Moshe an expletive-filled voicemail and then texted him a photo of his five-year-old son. Some group members faced such terrible harassment that they were forced to move or install additional security at their homes.
As a result, Australia’s Attorney General Mark Dreyfus proposed passing a new law that would make doxxing a criminal offense.
“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 in February. “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.”
In May, the Australian government announced that it would bring forward legislation in early August to outlaw doxxing and amend the country’s Privacy Act.
The post New York Times Reporter Apologizes for Leaking Personal Data From Jewish Group Chat Later Used to Harass Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.