We call on politicians to pledge to respect principles of responsible debate in their political campaigning and policy making, and to prioritise methods of debate focused on finding shared purpose and working collaboratively to achieve common goals.

We call on people involved in high profile public debates to reflect on principles of responsible debate in their discussions of contentious issues with others and to work to reduce power imbalances and increase inclusivity in public debate.

We call on news outlets to highlight violations of the principles of responsible debate and discuss ways that they undermine constructive public deliberation. We also call on news outlets to set up debates in ways that promote informed, respectful and inclusive discussions, focused on identifying common purpose.

We call on social media companies to develop algorithms that promote informed, reason-based engagement with fellow citizens in online debate, rather than opinion manipulation, point-scoring and echo chambers.

We call on universities to lead by example: to foster informed, inclusive and respectful debate, especially when the issues are controversial; and not simply to facilitate responsible debate by others but also to take seriously the responsibility to enter into debate themselves, for example to take and defend public stands on important issues of public policy such as human rights.

We call on individuals in all walks of life to experiment with and discuss principles of responsible debate in their daily lives: a culture change in public debate can only be achieved if we all get involved.

We believe that together we can shift the general culture of debate, and our
expectations of public debate, in a more responsible direction.