Do not underestimate the actual power of humor in challenging tyranny. Humor, especially satire, has a long history of effective use against authoritarian regimes, which rely on fear and an aura of invincibility. Puncture that and they often lose their power.
Create humorous memes that skewer the regime and spread them across social media platforms.
Examples
The Serbian youth movement Otpor! (Resistance!) played a crucial role in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević. They used protest, persuasion, and humor to build a core of 70,000 supporters, ridiculing Milošević and his government in public street theatre performances. Their stated purpose was to puncture the aura of invulnerability around him. Many historians credit Otpor!, including their use of humor, with creating the environment that eventually led to the ouster of Milosevic. Documentary:
- Pieter-Dirk Uys, through his character Evita Bezuidenhout, lampooned apartheid leaders and policies in South Africa, fostering broader resistance
- A meme comparing China's Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh became a subtle form of protest against censorship. The government overreacted by banning Pooh imagery, highlighting its insecurity and inviting further ridicule.
- Bassem Youssef, "The Jon Stewart of Egypt." His TV program Al-Bernameg used sharp satire to criticize the authoritarian tendencies of Egypt's leaders, drawing millions of viewers during and after the Arab Spring and demonstrating satire's power in political mobilization. He normalized the criticism of authority, breaking longstanding Egyptian taboos. Like Xi Jinping above, the Egyptian government's overreaction shed light on the validity of his critiques.
- Samizdat in the Soviet Union circulated banned literature, cartoons, and satirical works mocking the Soviet system, bureaucratic inefficiency, and censorship. Often humorous, these works helped undermine the regime's credibility and fostered solidarity among dissenters.