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posted by janrinok on Sunday April 15 2018, @11:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the as-long-as-it-is-not-encrypted dept.

[A] Melbourne-based company Assembly Four created Switter after its founders learned that social media platforms were either removing sex workers' content or banning their accounts. Without the time or resources to build a whole new network from scratch, the group turned to Mastodon.

The Verge reports:

Sex workers are running out of safe online spaces. Craigslist is no longer displaying personal ads. The controversial classifieds site Backpage, which many escorts used to screen clients, has been seized by the FBI. Adult content is disappearing off Google Drive, and many sex workers say they're being forced off social media. With the news that President Trump has signed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), their options will continue to dwindle — and with it, the ability for many sex workers to pay their bills, let alone do so safely.

Over the past few weeks, sex workers have been turning to an unexpected platform to remain online: the social network Mastodon, under a new instance called "Switter." Melbourne-based company Assembly Four created Switter after its founders learned that social media platforms were either removing sex workers' content or banning their accounts. Without the time or resources to build a whole new network from scratch, the group turned to Mastodon.

Although ostensibly aimed at sex trafficking prevention, FOSTA's reduction of legal protections for websites is having disastrous consequences for sex workers. Faced with the new potential for litigation, many websites are removing any content or avenues that could possibly violate FOSTA. It's disconnecting many of the most vulnerable sex workers from crucial resources.

[...] Switter may offer a temporary salve for the community, yet sex workers say it cannot stand as a last bastion, an end-all be-all answer for their profession. Assembly Four says it's prepared to continue working to make it a safe destination for sex workers, but that they need real change.

"The best-case scenario would be the opposite," says Hunt. "The best-case scenario would be if we didn't need to have safe spaces, if public spaces were somewhere we were accepted."

Fast-Company, Buzzfeed, Vice and Techdirt have related stories.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Sunday April 15 2018, @05:55PM (3 children)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 15 2018, @05:55PM (#667328) Journal

    Because the guys who wrote the bible were competing against those who worshiped a goddess. Read up on Jezebel, and try to figure out what she did that was so wrong. This will give you some clues.

    --
    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @06:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @06:03PM (#667337)

    Just link it. I'm on mobile over here, on a bus.

  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday April 15 2018, @09:21PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Sunday April 15 2018, @09:21PM (#667391)

    Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Jezebel. [wikipedia.org]

    She was the great-aunt of Dido, Queen of Carthage so I am going to assume she was completely untrustworthy.

    Yes, I know, she will offer you some sweet spices for only 2 horses, and come on all friendly and nice, but just you wait, pretty soon there will be African forest Elephants on your borders and if you think your archers are going to hold them off, you're mad.

    I hate Dido.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @12:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @12:15AM (#667419)

    I asked the new Google AI --
        what did Jezebel do that was so wrong?
    https://books.google.com/talktobooks/query?q=what%20did%20Jezebel%20do%20that%20was%20so%20wrong%3F [google.com]

    One of the answers was from the recent book, Hillary's Choice by Gail Sheehy ...