About this Webinar

How Der Spiegel took on the challenges of online commenting by creating a new product within their platforms is the focus of this INMA Product & Tech Initiative Webinar.

Moderated by INMA Product & Tech Initiative Lead Jodie Hopperton, the Webinar will feature guest speaker Dr. Dr. Laura Badura, Product Manager at Germany's Der Spiegel.

Most news organisations have faced challenges with commenting, including toxicity, trolls, and sometimes even hate speech. This has led some organisations to turn off commenting entirely. Der Spiegel decided to take on the challenge, completely rethinking commenting online, and creating a new product within existing platforms: Spiegel Debatte.

At a time when we are seeing more and more polarisation, and possibly the greatest need ever for healthy debate, fostering a community can become a differentiator that serves the public good. Laura will take us through how they created Spiegel Debatte after more than a year of iteration, sharing the constructive, informative, and healthy space for conversation.

We will learn about the options considered, how they went from zero to one, and what they have learnt about moderation and encouraging civil online debate.

About Der Spiegel

Founded in 1947, Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe.