| --- |
| license: cc-by-4.0 |
| task_categories: |
| - text-classification |
| - token-classification |
| - text-generation |
| task_ids: |
| - multi-class-classification |
| language: |
| - en |
| size_categories: |
| - 100K<n<1M |
| pretty_name: CreateDebate Arguments — Full Raw Dump |
| tags: |
| - debate |
| - argumentation |
| - argument-mining |
| - stance-detection |
| - user-generated-content |
| - research-only |
| viewer: false |
| extra_gated_prompt: >- |
| ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING — PLEASE READ BEFORE REQUESTING ACCESS |
| |
|
|
| This dataset is a raw, **unfiltered** archive of arguments from the (now |
| defunct) CreateDebate platform. It contains debates on extremely |
| controversial and potentially disturbing topics, including but not limited |
| to: pedophilia, bestiality, rape and sexual violence, suicide and |
| self-harm, hate speech directed at racial, religious, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ |
| groups, graphic violence, and conspiracy/extremist rhetoric. Some |
| arguments express views that the dataset authors find abhorrent. The |
| dataset is released *as-is* to support academic research in computational |
| argumentation; inclusion of any content is not endorsement. |
|
|
|
|
| By requesting access you confirm that: |
|
|
| - You are using this dataset for academic or research purposes only. |
|
|
| - You will not redistribute the dataset or any substantial portion of it. |
|
|
| - You understand the dataset contains content that may be disturbing. |
|
|
| - You will not use this dataset to train systems intended to generate, |
| promote, or amplify the kinds of harmful content it documents. |
|
|
| - You will cite the accompanying paper and the Zenodo DOI in any work |
| derived from this dataset. |
| extra_gated_fields: |
| Full name: text |
| Affiliation: text |
| Country: country |
| Intended research use (1-3 sentences): text |
| I agree to the terms above: checkbox |
| extra_gated_button_content: Request access |
| --- |
| |
| # CreateDebate Arguments — Full Raw Dump |
|
|
| > ⚠️ **Content warning.** This dataset contains user-generated arguments on |
| > extremely controversial topics including pedophilia, bestiality, rape, |
| > self-harm, hate speech, and graphic violence. It is released unfiltered for |
| > research purposes. See the "Considerations for Using the Data" section |
| > below. The dataset viewer is disabled by design. |
|
|
| ## Dataset Description |
|
|
| ### Dataset Summary |
|
|
| This dataset is the **complete raw archive** of arguments collected from |
| CreateDebate (createdebate.com, since taken down), comprising **383,220 |
| arguments** across the platform's `for/against` debates. It is released to |
| support reproducible research in computational argumentation, argument |
| mining, stance detection, and online discourse analysis. |
|
|
| A separately released, manually-curated subset of ~84k arguments from 500 |
| debates with sensitive topics removed is available at |
| [`azza1625/createdebate-arguments`](https://huggingface.co/datasets/azza1625/createdebate-arguments). |
| **That curated subset, not this one, is the appropriate choice for most |
| downstream applications.** This full dump exists for researchers who need |
| the raw distribution — for example to study how argumentative structure |
| varies across topic sensitivity, or to develop content moderation tools. |
|
|
| ### Supported Tasks |
|
|
| - **Stance detection** — arguments carry an explicit `argumentSide` label |
| - **Argument quality assessment** — community vote scores per argument |
| - **Argument mining and discourse structure** — full tree structure preserved |
| - **Computational rhetoric and topic-conditioned analysis** |
| - **Robustness / safety evaluation** — content moderation, toxicity detection |
|
|
| ### Languages |
|
|
| Primarily English (`en`). User text is preserved as-written; spelling and |
| grammar quality varies. |
|
|
| ## Dataset Structure |
|
|
| ### Files |
|
|
| | File | Format | Purpose | |
| |--------------------------------------------|---------------|--------------------------| |
| | `data/train-00000-of-00001.parquet` | Parquet | Full dataset, 383,220 rows | |
| | `README.md` | Markdown | This file | |
|
|
| ### Data Fields |
|
|
| #### Argument-level |
|
|
| | Field | Type | Description | |
| |------------------|--------|-------------| |
| | `argumentId` | string | Unique argument identifier | |
| | `parentId` | int64 | Parent argument numeric id; `-1` for top-level | |
| | `userPoints` | int64 | Lifetime platform reputation of the (anonymized) author | |
| | `argumentBody` | string | Full argument text, UTF-8, original whitespace preserved | |
| | `date` | int64 | Posting time as Unix milliseconds (UTC) | |
| | `argumentSide` | string | The side title the argument supports | |
| | `argumentPoints` | int64 | Net community vote score for this argument | |
| | `argumentTag` | string | Optional platform tag (`""` if none) | |
| | `characterCount` | int64 | Character count of `argumentBody` | |
| | `depth` | int64 | Tree depth; `0` = top-level, `1` = first reply, … | |
| | `lang` | string | Language of `argumentBody` | |
|
|
| <!-- | `context` | string | Text of the parent argument (`""` for top-level) | --> |
|
|
| #### Debate-level |
|
|
| | Field | Type | Description | |
| |---------------------|--------|-------------| |
| | `debateUrl` | string | Original URL on createdebate.com (no longer resolvable) | |
| | `debateTopic` | string | Platform-assigned category | |
| | `debateTitle` | string | Debate title | |
| | `debateDescription` | string | Debate prompt / description | |
| | `debateStats` | string | JSON: `{score, arguments, totalVotes}` | |
| | `debateTags` | string | JSON: side → argument count | |
| | `debateSides` | string | JSON: list of `{id, title, points}` | |
| <!-- | `topic` | string | Free-text topic label | --> |
| <!-- | `sides` | string | JSON: list of expanded side descriptions | --> |
|
|
| ### Data Splits |
|
|
| No canonical splits are provided. This is a raw distribution; researchers |
| should construct splits appropriate to their task (random, debate-grouped, |
| temporal, or topic-stratified). |
|
|
| ## Dataset Creation |
|
|
| ### Source data |
|
|
| Data was scraped from the (now defunct) CreateDebate platform via a |
| Selenium-based crawler. The collection covered all `for/against` format |
| debates discoverable from the platform's listings during the collection |
| window; debates were prioritized by argument count. For each debate the |
| full argument tree was extracted along with debate-level metadata. |
|
|
| ### What was filtered |
|
|
| Unlike the curated subset, **no content-based filtering was applied** to |
| this release. Debates spanning sensitive, offensive, or graphic topics |
| remain in the data. Only the following modifications were made: |
|
|
| - All user-identifying columns (`username`, `profileURL`) were removed. |
| - `parentId` values were normalized from the string form `"argNNNNN"` to |
| the numeric id `NNNNN` (top-level: `-1`). |
| - Nested metadata fields were serialized to JSON strings for portability. |
| - Structural fields (`depth`, `context`) were computed from the tree. |
|
|
| ### Annotations |
|
|
| All labels (`argumentSide`, `argumentPoints`, `debateTopic`, …) are |
| user- or platform-generated. No additional human annotation was performed. |
|
|
| ### Personal and Sensitive Information |
|
|
| All user-identifying fields were removed prior to release. The platform |
| itself has been taken down, so usernames cannot be re-linked from public |
| sources. Argument bodies may, however, mention third parties, public |
| figures, or self-disclose information — they are released as-written. |
|
|
| If you encounter content in this dataset that should be redacted (e.g. |
| personally identifying information that slipped through, content depicting |
| illegal acts against identifiable people), please contact the dataset |
| maintainers to request a redaction in the next version. |
|
|
| ## Considerations for Using the Data |
|
|
| ### Intended uses |
|
|
| This dataset is intended for academic research in computational |
| argumentation, NLP, and adjacent fields. Appropriate uses include: |
| linguistic analysis of argumentation, development and evaluation of |
| argument mining systems, stance detection, study of online discourse |
| dynamics, and content moderation research. |
|
|
| ### Uses we ask you NOT to make |
|
|
| - Do not use this dataset to train systems intended to generate, promote, |
| or amplify the kinds of harmful content it documents. |
| - Do not redistribute the dataset or substantial portions of it. Point |
| others to this repository instead. |
| - Do not attempt to re-identify authors. |
|
|
| ### Biases and limitations |
|
|
| - **Self-selection bias.** CreateDebate users are not representative of |
| any broader population. |
| - **Topical skew.** Some topics are heavily over-represented; political |
| and ideological debates dominate. |
| - **Quality variance.** Argument quality ranges from carefully reasoned to |
| trolling, off-topic, or incoherent. Community vote scores partially but |
| imperfectly track quality. |
| - **Binary stance simplification.** The `for/against` format flattens |
| nuanced positions. |
| - **Harmful content.** As stated above, the dataset contains content many |
| readers will find offensive or disturbing. |
| - **Temporal drift.** Arguments reference contemporary events of their |
| posting period. |
|
|
| ### Licensing |
|
|
| The compilation, schema, and derived metadata are released under |
| **Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)**. The |
| underlying argument text was authored by individual platform users; the |
| platform's terms permitted the collection performed, and the platform is |
| now defunct. Users of this dataset accept the gated-access terms above. |
|
|
| <!-- ## Citation |
|
|
| ```bibtex |
| @dataset{createdebate_full_2026, |
| title = {CreateDebate Arguments --- Full Raw Dump}, |
| author = {YOUR NAME(S)}, |
| year = {2026}, |
| doi = {10.5281/zenodo.XXXXXXX}, |
| url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.XXXXXXX} |
| } |
| |
| @inproceedings{YOUR_PAPER_KEY, |
| title = {YOUR PAPER TITLE}, |
| author = {YOUR NAME(S)}, |
| booktitle = {Proceedings of ...}, |
| year = {2026} |
| } |
| ``` --> |
|
|
| ## Maintenance |
|
|
| This dataset is a static archive of a defunct platform; the data itself |
| will not grow. Bugfix versions (schema corrections, additional redactions) |
| will be released as new versions of this dataset. |
|
|
