FEATURE

The Public Spaces Incubator: Civility by design

3 December 2025

Six public media and one nonprofit R&D lab are embarking on a groundbreaking initiative: to provide online spaces safe for civil debate.

What if there were digital spaces where people could interact, but the tone was constructive and the content safely moderated? Where users could share their opinions and where meaningful and engaging debate was encouraged. Where instead of an algorithm rewarding shock and outrage, a space where nuanced and diverse perspectives were able to flourish.   

In essence, online environments designed for civility. This is the purpose of the Public Spaces Incubator (PSI).  

A recent White Paper was published, assessing the progress of the PSI so far.  

Why is the project unique?

PSI is unique for several reasons. Firstly, it signifies an acknowledgement from public service media entities that there is a responsibility to create online digital spaces free from the abuse and vitriol that characterises much of online discourse today. The guiding principle of PSI is that the design of a conversational space can have a direct impact on the quality – the civility – of the discussion. 

Secondly, the collective international aspect of the collaboration on digital product development is both unique and highly valuable. Public media companies often operate in their separate national contexts, and understandably so. But on global issues such as online discourse, there is an obvious alignment between public media organisations worldwide. That PSI has managed to involve public media from three continents and seven countries is in and of itself a sign of success.  

What could these spaces look like?

The Public Spaces Incubator has never been about creating a platform to rival the current social media giants. Instead, it is about re-imagining public media’s existing digital infrastructure to provide opportunities for meaningful interaction and engagement.  

From an initial list of over 100 prototypes, several have been developed and are now in production as conversation tools.  

Examples of these tools include:  

• Topic of the Moment: With the “Topic of the Moment” feature, users are invited to connect directly with hosts, editors, journalists and experts about topics of interest. Think of this as an online version of what is done with radio call-in shows, which are programmed by topics and themes. It is similar to the “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) feature on Reddit.  
• Comments Slider: Rather than limiting users to binary reactions (thumbs up or thumbs down), this feature allows users to respond along a spectrum of more nuanced positions. By design, this is less polarizing. It also mimics what we experience in conversations, when people express doubt or interest, or want more information to learn about a subject or form a viewpoint. 
• Conversation Helper: This feature uses an AI assistant to monitor the sentiment of conversations and nudges users about the norms and rules of debate. Rather than banning users for bad behaviour, this prototype operates like a teacher or chairperson, to de-escalate conflict.  

The emphasis of such prototypes is to move away from the binary forms of interaction online, such as the ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ buttons, and instead provide pathways for more nuanced opinions, and capture the spectrum of opinion.  

What next?  

Select prototypes will become active features within each organisation’s digital spaces. Indeed, some features have already been rolled out.  

The entire PSI toolkit is planned for release as open-source software in or before 2027. 

In July 2025, the PSI team released a White Paper, providing an update on the progress of the project so far, and looking ahead to the future. 

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