This was Chaplin's first overtly political-themed film, and its unflattering portrayal of industrial society generated controversy in some quarters upon its initial release. Writing in "The Liberal News", the official magazine of the British Liberal Party, in October 1936, Willoughby Dewar observed "["Modern Times"] should be seen by every Young Liberal. It is, among other things, a piece of first-class Liberal propaganda." Nazi Germany propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels banned the film from being shown in the regime because of its alleged advocacy of communism.