{{Short description|Defunct social networking site for sex workers}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox website | logo = Switter logo.png | logo_alt = Switter – sex work friendly social | type = Social network | founded = {{Start date and age|2018|03|28|df=y}} | dissolved = {{End date and age|2022|03|14|df=y}} | owner = Assembly Four | url = {{URL|https://switter.at}} | users = 435,490 }} '''Switter''' was a social networking website for sex workers. It was an instance of the Mastodon federated social network.
== History == Switter was founded on 28 March 2018<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://medium.com/assembly-four/my-six-week-rollercoaster-ride-172eb58ba80e |title=Switter: My six week rollercoaster ride |author=Jack Chen |date=16 May 2018 |access-date=3 July 2025 |website=Medium}}</ref> by Assembly Four – an organisation in Melbourne, Australia<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/sex-workers-leave-twitter-for-switter-after-controversial-us-law/a-44444511 |title=Sex workers leave Twitter for Switter |author=Elizabeth Schumacher |date=28 June 2018 |access-date=5 July 2025 |work=Deutsche Welle}}</ref> – and operated as an instance of the federated social network Mastodon.<ref name="buzzfeednews_newtwitter">{{Cite news |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/sex-workers-twitter-switter-mastodon-alternative-social |title=Trump Just Signed A Law That Helped Create A New Twitter For Sex Workers |author=Caroline O'Donovan |date=16 April 2018 |orig-date=11 April 2018 |access-date=4 July 2025 |work=BuzzFeed News}}</ref> It experienced a surge of new users following the seizure of Backpage on 6 April,<ref name="theverge_banned">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/19/17256370/switter-cloudflare-sex-workers-banned |title=Switter, one of the last online spaces friendly to sex workers, was just banned by its network |author=Megan Farokhmanesh |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=3 July 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> reaching 26,000 profiles by 11 April<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40557654/what-is-switter-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-growing-sex-workers-network |title=What is Switter? What you need to know about the growing sex-workers network |author=Cale Guthrie Weissman |date=11 April 2018 |access-date=4 July 2025 |magazine=Fast Company}}</ref> making it the sixth largest Mastodon server.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17188772/trump-sesta-fosta-bill-switter-sex-workers-mastodon |title=Amid FOSTA crackdown, sex workers find refuge on Mastodon |author=Megan Farokhmanesh |date=11 April 2018 |access-date=4 July 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref>
After 3 weeks of operation, it was publicly unavailable following Cloudflare withdrawing their services to Switter on 18 April 2018, after the passage of the FOSTA and SESTA bills in the United States. Speaking to Vice Media, Cloudflare said that banning Switter was "related to [their] attempts to understand FOSTA", further describing the legislation as "a very bad law [setting] a very dangerous precedent".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/cloudflare-switter-down-fosta-sesta/ |title=Cloudflare: FOSTA Was a 'Very Bad Bill' That's Left the Internet's Infrastructure Hanging |author=Samantha Cole |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=3 July 2025 |work=Vice News}}</ref> Switter was subsequently transferred to a different platform.<ref name="theverge_banned" />
By June 2018, it had 100,000 users,<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90178614/why-sex-workers-are-ditching-twitter-for-switter-and-why-it-matters |title=Why sex workers are ditching Twitter for Switter — and why it matters |author=Melissa Locker |date=29 June 2018 |access-date=3 July 2025 |magazine=Fast Company}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://english.varthabharati.in/world/sex-workers-leave-twitter-flock-to-switter-over-new-us-law |title=Sex workers leave Twitter, flock to Switter over new US law |date=30 June 2018 |access-date=5 July 2025 |work=Vartha Bharati}}</ref> almost reaching 200,000 that December, with Tumblr's restriction of adult material cited as a factor.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.papermag.com/switter-sex-worker-social-network |title=Inside Switter, the Sex Worker Social Network |author=Sandra Song |date=13 December 2018 |access-date=4 July 2025 |magazine=Paper}}</ref>
=== Closure === On 14 February 2022, Assembly Four announced that Switter would be discontinued the following month on 14 March, in part due to the passage of the Online Safety Act in Australia along with similar legislation such as the British Online Safety Bill (subsequently passed in 2023). It had 435,490 members<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://switter.at/ |title=What happened to Switter? |access-date=5 July 2025 |website=Switter}}</ref> and, during the final month of operation, the creation of new user accounts was disabled.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/switter-the-twitter-for-sex-workers-is-shutting-down/ |title=Switter, the Twitter for Sex Workers, Is Shutting Down |author=Samantha Cole |date=14 February 2022 |access-date=3 July 2025 |work=Vice News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/15/now-we-dont-have-a-safe-place-sex-workers-social-media-site-switter-shuts-down-amid-legal-fears |title='Now we don't have a safe place': sex workers' social media site Switter shuts down amid legal fears |author=Josh Taylor |date=14 February 2022 |access-date=3 July 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Digital Rights Watch, an Australian digital rights advocacy group, described pressure to terminate Switter as "systematic silencing of the parts of Australian society that the government does not wish to exist".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2022/02/15/in-solidarity-with-switter/ |title=In solidarity with Switter |author=Samantha Floreani |date=15 February 2022 |access-date=4 July 2025 |website=Digital Rights Watch}}</ref>
== Reception == While Switter was noted as a safe haven for sex workers displaced from other platforms like Twitter and Instagram through terms of service and anti-sex work legislation,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/switter-down-cloudflare-banned-sex-workers-sesta-fosta/ |title=Cloudflare Just Banned a Social Media Refuge for Thousands of Sex Workers |author=Samantha Cole |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=4 July 2025 |work=Vice News}}</ref> its lack of end-to-end encryption on direct messages was criticised as vulnerable to data breaches.<ref name="buzzfeednews_newtwitter" /> The lower number of prospective clients on Switter compared to Backpage during its existence was also cited as an impediment to vetting them.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://slate.com/technology/2019/02/backpage-sex-workers-fosta-sesta-switter-tryst-trafficking.html |title=There Is No New Backpage |author=April Glaser |date=13 February 2019 |access-date=5 July 2025 |magazine=Slate}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website}}
Category:Sex industry Category:Internet properties established in 2018 Category:2018 establishments in Australia Category:Australian social networking websites Category:Fediverse Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2022 Category:2022 disestablishments in Australia Category:Defunct social networking services