Unlike social networks built for entertainment or casual updates,
Agora is
purpose-built to foster
meaningful dialogue on important, often controversial topics. Tackling complex challenges like
polarization, computational propaganda, balancing
freedom of expression and moderation, Agora adopts innovative technologies and moves beyond familiar
designs like traditional reply trees to encourage a new kind of social interaction that prevents
random trolling and is scalable.
Moderation on Agora covers two types of content:
-
Objective: Content that's illegal content or spam, which the Agora
moderation
team will remove directly.
-
Subjective: Content flagged as misleading, antisocial, or off-topic, which will be
moderated democratically by the community.
We believe in transparency, so even if moderated content is removed from the platform, its
moderation
history remains publicly accessible (unless it contains illegal material or personal details) and
can
be verified through a decentralized network, Nostr.
In a world where bots outnumber humans, Agora aims to maintain the
integrity of dialogues while
preserving user privacy by encouraging the use of Personhood Credentials. They allow users to prove
aspects of their identity, such as unique personhood, age, and citizenship, without disclosing any
personal information to us. Currently, our users with
biometric passports can download RariMe to convert their passports into anonymous credentials. Due to
this temporary technical constraint, we also allow users to verify their
identity using their phone numbers.
Most social networks today use engagement-based ranking algorithms
designed to maximize user
attention and engagement. Unfortunately, these algorithms often promote polarizing content, which
tends to attract the most attention, whether good or bad. In contrast, Agora employs bridging-based ranking algorithms that aim to highlight content
appreciated by users across different political viewpoints. The goal is not to censor extreme opinions
but to preserve a rich diversity of viewpoints and identify common ground. Other tools utilizing
bridging-based algorithms include Community Notes and Polis.
Agora is fully open-source under the AGPL license, which means that anyone is
invited to review and audit our codebase. This approach maximizes transparency while still allowing us
to have a sustainable business model.
Agora is developed and maintained by ZKorum, a Paris-based
startup dedicated to building
open-source solutions and products that rehumanize and depolarize online social interactions. ZK
refers to the use of Zero Knowledge Proof cryptography to maximize user privacy and ensure security.
