As Mel Brooks said, “Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.”

This means that smart dictators can address most criticism by a mix of rhetoric and half truths, but handling mockery is much harder for them. So it’s not that surprising that a dictatorship might crack down on forms of humor that damage the image they want to build of its leaders even if they allow some level of opposition.