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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @11:23AM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @11:23AM (#667236)

    The problem is that the Back(streets)page has itself been banished. Now that problem needs to be solved so everyone can get laid and paid.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @10:15PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @10:15PM (#667400)

    Can anyone name another product or service that is perfectly legal to give away for free, but totally illegal to require payment besides sex work?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @11:17PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 15 2018, @11:17PM (#667408)

      It's totally illegal unless it's shot in front of a camera. Then it's just porn.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @04:54PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @04:54PM (#667699)

        it's also legal as long as you only advertise with traditional methods (makeup, high heels, short skirts, suggestive glances, etc) and don't switch between johns too fast.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @02:32AM (#667468)

      Co-authorship of scientific papers. Ok, maybe not illegal, but it would be unethical.

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday April 16 2018, @05:17AM

      by bob_super (1357) on Monday April 16 2018, @05:17AM (#667519)

      NCAA

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @05:43AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @05:43AM (#667521)
      Perfectly legal in the USA for cops to shoot blacks for free, but I think requiring payment to do so breaks the rules...
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @07:20AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 16 2018, @07:20AM (#667540)

        Cops in the USA don't get paid?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:51AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:51AM (#667941)
          Officially they're not paid to kill blacks. It's just free service. Just like helping old white ladies cross the road. If they started charging people for that they'd get in trouble.