Manifesto

Lockhorns.io, is a platform that organizes online discussions to make conversations and debates on the internet more engaging and civilized.

Our mission is to encourage the clash of ideas to depolarize the public sphere

• We believe that exposing users to both sides of an issue and to debate with people outside their bubble will change minds and combat political polarization
• We believe that it is only through the clash of “good” ideas that “great” ideas can form, and society can advance
• We believe that debate does not have to be serious and dry, so we offer an intuitive design and strive to uphold a casual culture.

On the platform, users can create new discussions or debate existing discussions through pro / con arguments and rebuttals / counter-rebuttals

• Create a new public or private discussion, after first registering as a user
• Post a pro or con argument to an existing discussion without logging in
• Post a rebuttal to an argument without logging in
• Post a counter-rebuttal to a rebuttal, after first registering as a user

Lockhorns.io fills a niche that social media platforms, question-and-answer platforms and traditional debate platforms do not fill

• Social media platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat do not offer a pro and con view of arguments, but rather an endless unorganized scroll
• Question-and-answer platforms such as Quora or Reddit are mostly geared towards answering specific questions with no real debate
• Traditional debate platforms such as procon.org or debate.com are more academic and are a forum for long-form arguments only

Lockhorns.io is organized for effective debate, uses an intuitive design, and provides freshly curated discussions

• Organized in a pro and con view and nested rebuttals / counter-rebuttals to always see both sides of an argument
• Intuitive and simple user interface and an account page with a summary of their activity to engage users
• Fresh discussions based on the hot topics in society, plus classic and fun topics

Registering as a user on lockhorns.io has several benefits

• Create a new public of private discussion
• Receive a notification when another user posts an argument to a discussion you created
• Receive a notification when another user posts a rebuttal / counter-rebuttal to an argument / rebuttal you posted
• Review, modify, or delete arguments in your profile and account page

We have a content moderation policy in place

• We are actively monitoring and moderating the content of Lockhorns discussions. While one of our core values is the sanctity of the freedom of speech, there are instances of discussions that cross the line and we will remove content such as inciting violence, hate speech, harassment, or bullying
• On many of these decisions there is a fine line and we will make mistakes, both on not catching content that has crossed the line and probably also in removing content prematurely that is in fact above the line. Please contact us in either of those situations
• We might also remove statements that have obviously no relation to the discussion topic or are pranks, e.g., single letters/words