Layoffs at The Post: Support grows for Moroccan journalist Souad Mekhennet as Algerian campaign targets her

Online support for Moroccan German journalist Souad Mekhennet grew after Algerian nationalist accounts on X seized on Washington Post layoffs to call for her dismissal, citing her reporting that exposed links between Iran and the Polisario Front.

Mekhennet who reports for the Washington Post national security desk on terrorism and militant networks, is caught in the paper’s decision to lay off about one-third of its workforce, more than 300 employees, in a major newsroom and business restructurin signed off by owner Jeff Bezos.

Her most recent flashpoint was an April 2025 Post report that cited regional and European officials exposing Iranian support and training for Polisario Front fighters in Syria.

Mekhennet, a Moroccan journalist working in high risk national security reporting, “is not just another name in a newsroom. She is one of the world’s most respected investigative reporters in the fields of national security, geopolitics, terrorism, and extremist networks,” wrote Moroccan blogger Najib Addadi, as posts backing her online spread.

Full support to Moroccan journalist Souad Mekhennet facing pressure that could cost her job over sensitive reports,including her investigation exposing links between Polisario and Iran via Algeria Standing with her defends press freedom and the public’s right to know#SaveThePost pic.twitter.com/acx4M33WGe

— Saad Maarouf 🇲🇦⁩۞ (@saadmoorish) February 1, 2026

#savethepost All with Souad Mekhennet; Morocco First pic.twitter.com/efBgv09kG4

— Cours génie civil (@4geniecivil) February 2, 2026

🔴🟢||▪︎ The Washington Post Makes a Grave Mistake by Silencing a Voice of Truth… Souad Mekhennet @smekhennet Is Not an Ordinary Journalist 🇲🇦

The decision to dismiss independent journalists in an era of rising pressure and powerful lobbying is a dangerous signal for the… pic.twitter.com/UBkUWPz9LC

— نجيب الأضادي-Najib Addadi (@AddadiNajib) February 2, 2026

Pro Algerian nationalist accounts began circulating posts targetting Souad Mekhennet after her April 2025 reporting for The Washington Post cited Iranian support and training for Polisario Front fighters, reporting that later fed an effort in the United States Congress to designate the Polisario Front as a foreign terrorist organisation.

A second wave of Algerian nationalist posts targeted Mekhennet after the Post updated the April 2025 report to include a late Polisario denial, with Algerian users circulating the change online as evidence the newspaper had retreated. French fact checkers said it was a routine update to add a belated response.

The online escalation has again resurfaced as owner Jeff Bezos backed a restructuring that cut roughly a third of staff and reduced parts of the paper’s foreign coverage footprint.

.@JeffBezos I cover international security for @washingtonpost and reported on ISIS, Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, al-Qaeda, Iran and Israel. I’ve been imprisoned, lived under threats, and escaped kidnappings to do this work. #Journalism matters to America and the world. #SaveThePost pic.twitter.com/mDxmM4qX9g

— Souad Mekhennet (@smekhennet) January 26, 2026

In 2024, the Washington Post lost about 250,000 digital subscribers, roughly 10 percent of its base, after owner Jeff Bezos blocked a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, according to the Post’s own accounting and The Guardian’s reporting.

Coverage of the layoffs also cites leadership pointing to a near 50 percent drop in search driven traffic over three years.

Souad Mekhennet, my friend and colleague, is one of the best experts in the field of international security/ Terrorism – we need her reporting! https://t.co/s98CaAR5x8

— Katrin Eigendorf (@KEigendorf) January 27, 2026

Post journalists and former staff launched the #SaveThePost campaign across X and other platforms, directly tagging owner Jeff Bezos and urging him to halt cuts, a push that quickly gathered momentum online.