Registered sex offenders are fighting legal battles in several states to overturn laws banning them from social networking websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and others, according to a report from the Associated Press. Cases in Indiana, Nebraska, and Louisiana are challenging laws that prohibit registered sex offenders from signing up and using dozens of social networking sites, chat rooms, and instant messengers. While proponents of these laws argue that such measures are necessary to protect children, civil liberties advocates assert that these online networks are part of public discourse and therefore essential to free speech. The ACLU is confident that the laws will be overturned based on a February ruling in Louisiana in which a similar law was deemed too broad and unreasonably restrictive – despite the existence of other modes of communication, the importance of online discourse cannot be denied.