Frankly Claimed

Frankly™ is an open source online video-based discourse platform designed to facilitate constructive dialogue and collaborative decision-making across and within diverse groups.
Active
Since 2025
In The Berkman Klein Center for the Internet & Society at Harvard University
Open-source (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.en.html)

Frankly addresses the critical need for effective tools that facilitate constructive dialogue and collaborative decision-making across and within diverse groups. By providing an accessible open-source platform for structured discourse, Frankly enables communities to engage in meaningful conversations and practice essential civic skills without relying on trained facilitators.

What we offer:

  • Embedded interactive discussion prompts, which reduces reliance on trained facilitators.
  • Algorithmic group matching, to ensures diverse perspectives in breakout groups.
  • Hostless facilitation options, to enable small groups to navigate complex conversations independently.
  • Open source code, which empowers a global community to expand and adapt this framework.

With these capabilities, Frankly aims to make the practice of constructive discourse accessible, adaptable, and scalable.

As of May 2025, Frankly is in closed beta and under active development. It is operated by Harvard’s Applied Social Media Lab at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

Founders:

Lawrence Lessig

Parent organization:

Applied Social Media Lab (ASML)

Frankly
Org. type: Academic / research organization
Project type: Tool or platform
Features: Custom URL
Used by: Communities in need of a platform to host constructive discourse online.
Last modified: Nov 12, 2025 Added: May 19, 2025
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