Late-night hosts joke about Facebook extending Donald Trump ban

A Facebook-appointed panel ruled to extend the social network's ban of former U.S. President Donald Trump and late-night hosts are having a field day talking about it on their respective shows.

The panel, comprised of journalists, lawyers, and activists, prevented any immediate return of Mr. Trump to mainstream social media. Facebook's Oversight Board, according to the New York Times, also agreed with the decision to extend the ban given his reaction to the attack on Washington in January, in which he allegedly "created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible."

However, the board also gave Facebook six months to make a final decision whether to permanently ban Mr. Trump or give him a time-bound suspension. Michael McConnell, co-chairman of the Oversight Board, gave the accountability to Facebook. He said an indefinite ban was "not appropriate" since it is not a penalty defined in the social media platform's policies.

News of the suspension extension was among the topics discussed by Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and James Corden on their respective late-night shows. Kimmel likened Mr. Trump's ban on Facebook to the same punishment parents give their teenager who comes home late after curfew as he blurted out, "No social media for you."

Meanwhile, Fallon called it a "tough break" for the former president. He said now Mr. Trump is "scrambling to figure out how to keep in touch with his friends from high school." But "on the bright side, he still has a good excuse for forgetting his kids' birthdays."

"You gotta give this to Trump, though. He's the only person to leave social media without a long annoying post about how he's leaving social media," Fallon joked.

Corden, on the other hand, called out Facebook not just for banning Trump. But for not making any progress with making the platform better.

"You've banned Trump and you've done absolutely nothing else ever to ever make Facebook better," he said on "The Late Late Show."

Corden also joked about Trump's new blog and said it should be called "From the Bathroom of Donald J. Trump." Aside from Facebook, Twitter also permanently banned the former president in January over concerns his tweets could encourage violence in the wake of the Capitol Hill riot.