While repression figures prominently in the policy toolbox of all authoritarian regimes, not all those who run afoul of red lines can be targeted for repression. Instead, regimes must rely on self-censorship. Yet while much has been written about repression and its effects on political stability and protest, we know little about how regimes of self-censorship are reproduced and, importantly, how they erode over time. Using Morocco as a case study, I investigate this process of self-censorship erosion, attributing it to the co-optation and declining credibility of organized ‘loyal opposition’ forces and the increasingly conspicuous intervention of the king in political affairs, which has left the monarchy more exposed to criticism, especially as repression increases. Alongside these developments, a broader process of vulgarization of the king’s image, facilitated by the rapid spread of internet access and social media use over the past decade, has further denaturalized red lines while providing ordinary Morocans with both the basis and the means for critiquing the monarchy. Details from the Moroccan case help support this argument. When protesters took to the streets in 2013 to protest King Mohammed VI’s decision to pardon Spanish pedophile Daniel Galvan, it marked the first time in recent history that the monarch was the direct target of public protest. The pardon was eventually revoked, but not before security forces violently dispersed protesters. In the years since, the regime has increasingly responded to criticism and protest with repression, while continuing its efforts to co-opt or restrict the few remaining ‘loyal opposition’ forces in the kingdom. Yet despite the regime’s sharp turn towards repression and its sidelining of organized opposition, the incidence of protest in the kingdom continues to climb. Alongside these developments, criticism of the king has become more widespread, especially online, where rumors, insults, and memes about the monarch have become commonplace. In a country where criticism of the king — let alone jokes or insults — has long been understood to be a red line, these developments suggest an unprecedented erosion of self-censorship among ordinary Moroccans. Based on extensive interview and documentary analysis — including analysis of social media content and popular culture — collected over the course of 16 months of ethnographic research in Morocco, this project helps bring a societal perspective to the literature on policy change in non-democracies while also speaking more broadly to questions of resistance and social control under authoritarianism.