This episode of Last Week Tonight offers useful context for TikTok’s stunt shutdown on Sunday. John Oliver delves into the issues—including national security, privacy, and First Amendment concerns—with his trademark nuance and humor. It first aired in November but remains relevant.

(Also good: John Gruber’s piece from Sunday, which focuses on the immediate effect of the takedown, and Donald Trump’s “pinkie-swear promise” to indemnify companies like Oracle and Akamai that re-enabled TikTok in violation of the law. The fines are $5,000 per user, amounting to $850 billion for TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users. And that’s for each company in violation.)

John Gruber at Daring Fireball:

Do not accept, not even at this fraught moment, the claims of anyone blaming yesterday on Democrats describing Trump as a threat to democracy. Saying so is not even on the spectrum of hyperbole. We saw what we saw after the 2020 election, and especially on January 6.

Do not fret, either, that yesterday’s event somehow cedes the election to Trump, on the grounds that he survived and projected strength. The side that wants a strongman was already voting for him.

Spot on.

We also ended with similar calls to action:

So here is what the Democrats should do. Tomorrow morning Chuck Schumer should put on the floor of the Senate a law mandating strict background checks for all gun purchases….

Give it a name like the “Anti Political and School Violence Act”.

Way more professional than mine.