The 2024 Australian Jewish doxxing incident was an instance of mass doxxing[note 1] that targeted a private WhatsApp group called 'J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics'. It took place on 8 February 2024 when pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist activists leaked the chat transcript and contact details of over 600 Australian Jewish creatives and academics in the group, after a minority of its members discussed ways to threaten the employment of Australian pro-Palestinian activists.[1][2][3] Politicians and Jewish community leaders described the incident as motivated by antisemitism and a desire to target Australian Jews, while others defended it as a form of whistleblowing.[4][5][6][7] After the leak, group members received personal threats and attacks on their places of work, which led the Australian government to make changes to Australian law regarding doxxing.
Overview
In the wake of the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 2023, a private WhatsApp group for Australian Jews called 'J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics' was created, as a space to serve as a "lifeline" for Jewish creatives[8] and to discuss issues related to the Israel-Hamas conflict and antisemitism in Australia. At the time of the doxxing it had 600 members.[9] In December 2023, certain members of the J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics group and another group called Lawyers for Israel participated in an organised letter writing campaign, encouraging the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to terminate the employment of Antoinette Lattouf due to her criticisms of Israel. After Lattouf's employment was terminated, members celebrated her dismissal in the group chats, and several stated they received personal emails from ABC Chair Ita Buttrose thanking them for their emails and confirming Lattouf's employment had ceased.[10][11] Some members of the group denied that the group was political in nature.[12]
On 8 February 2024 it was reported Pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist activists had doxxed the group, by sharing the full transcript of the group chat, which totalled around 900 pages, and including the full names, occupations and the photographs of around 100 members of the group.[13][14][15] The leakers stated they redacted home addresses, phone numbers, and emails of members of the group, and that no private photos or photos of children were shared.[1][2] Supporters of the doxxing defended it in the context of the Israel–Hamas war, stating that people in the leaked chat had themselves sought to intimidate pro-Palestinian activists;[16] critics of the doxxing considered the motivation behind the leak to be antisemitism. The leakers, who referred to the group as the "Zio600" and a "Zionist group chat",[14] stated that the leak was done on the grounds the group was conspiring against pro-Palestinian public figures including discussing ways to jeopardise their employment, stating they "were shocked and disturbed by the contents of the transcript [and] the tactics discussed to target and harm the livelihood and reputation of good and just people, some for simply being Palestinian."[1] Several high-profile public figures shared the material on social media, including the children's artist Matt Chun,[17][18]Macquarie University academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, and writer Clementine Ford.[19][19] Ford had been among the pro-Palestinian activists targeted by some members of the group,[2][3] and cited this as her reason for sharing the details, stating that the fact the group members were Jewish was "utterly irrelevant" to the leak.[20]
Reportedly, only a minority of the members of the group discussed campaigns against pro-Palestinian figures,[2][3] and Jews who did not identify as Zionists or considered themselves anti-Zionists reported they were also doxxed,[21] as were people who had already left the group chat.[12] One victim stated that she had never been part of the group but was nonetheless doxxed, stating: "I am not a Zionist, I have never been a Zionist, I am just a Jewish woman trying to go about my life. This is a group of any Jew they know the name of. I can't believe it is happening.”[14] Following the doxxing, members of the group faced death threats, including threats made against a five-year-old child,[16] with one family reportedly being forced into hiding.[3] Several victims reported on the personal and professional toll the leak had taken on them, including being forced to close their businesses. Businesses owned by members of the group were vandalised and received threatening phone calls and emails,and companies that employed members of the WhatsApp group received phone calls and emails pressuring them to sack the members.
In August 2024, the source of the leak was identified as New York Times journalist Natasha Frost.[22] Frost stated that she had shared the contents of the WhatsApp chat with a single individual about whom she was writing a story in confidence, and that she was "shocked" at its subsequent dissemination, saying the leak put her and many others at risk and that she "deeply regret[ted]" the fact that it had been made public.[citation needed] In November 2024, the first arrest related to the leak was made.[23]
Changes to legislation
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese directed Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to bring forward new laws in response to the Privacy Act review in response to the mass doxxing. The Albanese government shortly thereafter announced new laws to combat doxxing, with tougher laws to stop the malicious release of personal information.[6][24] The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 took effect on 10 December 2024 and introduced several new offences to the federal Criminal Code Act of 1995, introducing criminal penalties for doxxing.[25]
Reactions
The leak was condemned by leaders of Australia's Jewish community, including Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the peak body for Australian Jews.[26] Ryvchin said he was in "shock ...[and] disbelief” that “people are once again drawing up lists of Jews”, calling the tactics “Nazi-like”.[17] The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies,[27] Jewish Australian Labor Party MP Josh Burns also condemned the leak.[3] Both the governing Australian Labor Party and the opposition Liberal Party of Australia were strongly critical of the publication of the list. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that “[t]he idea that someone should be targeted because of their religion ... is just completely unacceptable". Other politicians such as the Liberal Party Senator Dave Sharma and the independent MPs Allegra Spender and Zoe Daniel also condemned the publication of the list.[17]
Other responses
Some sources[which?] described the leak as part of a growing antisemitic intimidation that had previously been absent in Australia.[9][28]Indigenous Australian academic Marcia Langton criticised the "ongoing persecution" suffered by members of the leaked group.[29]
Conversely, Simon Copland wrote in The Conversation "was more in line with whistleblowing, not doxing", and malicious intent was not clear.[7] Also writing for The Conversation, Hugh Breakey commented on ethical issues regarding sharing the names of all the people in group as only some had targeted pro-Palestinian activists, though stated that revealing the WhatsApp group's activities could be in the public interest, as they "made pro-Palestinian creatives fear their careers were unfairly jeopardised".[2]
↑ Ben-David, Daniel (13 February 2024). "Doxxing to be criminalised in Australia following anti-Israel activists publishing a 'Jew list'". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024. Albanese and MPs from across the political spectrum in the country condemned last week's doxxing as antisemitic and dangerous. Albanese said at the time that the "targeting of people because they happen to be Jewish is just completely unacceptable. It has got to stop. It must stop."
↑ Le Grand, Chip (12 February 2024). "Cross-party MPs back Jewish community push to outlaw doxxing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 29 November 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2025. Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion, KC, said that since Israel's war against Hamas began, Jewish people living in Australia have felt unprecedented levels of fear and anxiety about their physical safety and livelihoods. "In the last few days this has been caused by the publication of lists containing the names, faces and other personal information of hundreds of individuals, whose only common trait is that they are Jewish," Aghion said.
1 2 Crowe, David (14 February 2024). "'Doxxing' laws to be brought forward after Jewish WhatsApp leak". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025. Dreyfus told this masthead he would introduce the law against doxxing as soon as possible. "The recent targeting of members of the Australian Jewish community through doxxing was shocking, but sadly a far from isolated event," he said. "No Australian should be targeted because of their race or religion."
1 2 Demetriadi, Alex; Gambotto-Burke, Antonella (22 February 2024). "'Target on their backs' for being Jewish: Australia in 2024 – how can this be?". The Australian. Archived from the original on 7 June 2024. Retrieved 30 January 2025. "That we are 'lobbyists' is ridiculous … it's delusional to think we have the power to get someone fired overnight," she said...Another left the chat after a few days – "but it was long enough for me to be doxxed".
1 2 3 le Grand, Chip (8 February 2024). "Hundreds of Jewish creatives have names, details published online following Whatsapp leak". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald were contacted by a Jewish journalist who was not a member of the WhatsApp group but whose name was included in the published spreadsheet. "I have been vocally critical of Israel, was not added to the group and specially said Ididn't want to be in that group, and my name is on the spreadsheet," said the Melbourne-based journalist, who asked not to be named for fear of further harassment. "I am not a Zionist, I have never been a Zionist, I am just a Jewish woman trying to goabout my life. This is a group of any Jew they know the name of. I can't believe it ishappening."
↑ Greyman-Kennard, Danielle (9 February 2024). "'Jew List' published by Australian pro-Palestinian activists forces families into hiding". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin described the document as a "Jew list" designed to target those speaking out against antisemitism, according to the Jewish Chronicle. Speaking to the Herald, Ryvchin said, "These people have painstakingly collected the names, faces, professions, and other personal information of a group of Australians whose sole common trait is that they are Jews. "They are telling those who chant 'Where's the Jews?' exactly who and where the Jews are. "It is a 'Jew list' drawn up and published in a menacing manner intended to inflict maximum emotional damage and professional loss."
↑ Langton, Marcia (27 January 2025). "No excuse for allowing Jewish hate to fester on our campuses". The Australian. Archived from the original on 27 January 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025. Jones famously participated in the ongoing persecution of 600 Jewish Australians who were doxxed and whose private details were leaked to the public. He went on Instagram and stated: "Having now read the entire transcript, I'll research and publish a number of posts about specific individuals from this leaked group chat, and the organisations with which they intersect." He said: "The group chat confirms what we already know: Zionists are thoroughly racist, thoroughly anti-Indigenous and thoroughly committed to colonialism."
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