# Switter > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Switter > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Switter.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switter > Source revision: 1333079473 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/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](/source/social_networking) website for [sex worker](/source/sex_worker)s. It was an instance of the [Mastodon](/source/Mastodon_(social_network)) [federated social network](/source/federated_social_network). == History == Switter was founded on 28 March 2018{{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}} by Assembly Four – an organisation in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne), Australia{{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}} – and operated as an instance of the federated social network Mastodon.{{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}} It experienced a surge of new users following the seizure of [Backpage](/source/Backpage) on 6 April,{{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}} reaching 26,000 profiles by 11 April{{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}} making it the sixth largest Mastodon server.{{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}} After 3 weeks of operation, it was publicly unavailable following [Cloudflare](/source/Cloudflare) withdrawing their services to Switter on 18 April 2018, after the passage of the [FOSTA and SESTA](/source/FOSTA-SESTA) bills in the United States. Speaking to [Vice Media](/source/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".{{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}} Switter was subsequently transferred to a different platform. By June 2018, it had 100,000 users,{{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}}{{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}} almost reaching 200,000 that December, with [Tumblr](/source/Tumblr)'s restriction of adult material cited as a factor.{{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}} === 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](/source/Online_Safety_Act_2021) in Australia along with similar legislation such as the British [Online Safety Bill](/source/Online_Safety_Act_2023) (subsequently passed in 2023). It had 435,490 members{{Cite web |url=https://switter.at/ |title=What happened to Switter? |access-date=5 July 2025 |website=Switter}} and, during the final month of operation, the creation of new user accounts was disabled.{{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}}{{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}} [Digital Rights Watch](/source/Digital_Rights_Watch), an Australian [digital rights](/source/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".{{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}} == Reception == While Switter was noted as a safe haven for sex workers displaced from other platforms like [Twitter](/source/Twitter) and [Instagram](/source/Instagram) through [terms of service](/source/terms_of_service) and anti-sex work legislation,{{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}} its lack of [end-to-end encryption](/source/end-to-end_encryption) on [direct message](/source/direct_message)s was criticised as vulnerable to [data breach](/source/data_breach)es. The lower number of prospective clients on Switter compared to [Backpage](/source/Backpage) during its existence was also cited as an impediment to [vetting](/source/vetting) them.{{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}} == 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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Switter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.