PM orders doxxing crackdown after Jewish WhatsApp leak

Personal privacy will be protected under new federal laws that criminalise ‘‘doxxing’’ after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to bring forward the changes to counter activists who published the names and details of hundreds of Jewish people.

Albanese condemned the release of identifying information – including a photo gallery and social media details – and promised tougher laws to stop the malicious publication of private information.

In a dramatic shift in the scope and speed of the federal action, the government plans to put urgent privacy laws to parliament while also developing stronger laws against hate speech after months of dispute over the war in the Middle East.

The plans respond to anti-Zionist activists who published the names and details of almost 600 Jewish writers. The new federal law will make it a criminal offence to engage in ‘‘doxxing’’ and similar harassment, while making broader changes in response to long-running review of the Privacy Act overseen by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

The changes will include an exemption for public interest journalism such as reporting on public figures. ‘‘I’ve asked the Attorney General to bring forward legislation in response to the Privacy Act review, including laws that deal with socalled doxxing, which is basically the malicious publication of private information online,’’ Albanese said on radio station 2GB yesterday.

He singled out the treatment of the 600 Jewish people as a major concern because the individuals had joined a WhatsApp group that was not heavily political and sought to provide support to each other because of the rise of anti-semitism.

‘‘And what we’ve seen is them being targeted,’’ Albanese said.

‘‘Now these people have a range of views about the Middle East. What they have in common, though, is the fact that they’re members of the Jewish community. And the idea that in Australia, someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith – whether they be Jewish, or Muslim or Hindu or Catholic or Buddhist – is just completely unacceptable.’’ Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion welcomed the move and said the stronger law was needed to deal with doxxing.

The federal government was already committed to an overhaul of the Privacy Act to create a new right to privacy – also known as a ‘‘privacy tort’’. Dreyfus told The Age he would introduce the law against doxxing as soon as possible. ‘‘No Australian should be targeted because of their race or religion,’’ he said.

The votes in parliament on the privacy safeguards and the hate-speech law will depend on the details of the two separate initiatives after years of dispute over the balance between the right to privacy, the protection from vilification and the right to free speech.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton signalled support for tougher federal laws last Friday.