The Algorithm Antidote: How Tribela Is Reclaiming Social Media For The Next Generation

As social media giants face increasing scrutiny over user safety, a new alternative is officially arriving in Canada. This Wednesday, Tribela—a platform incubated by Oxford University Innovation—launches publicly with a mission to prioritize safety-by-design over addictive algorithms. Backed by child safety advocates and former Meta insiders, the platform arrives at a critical moment for Vancouver youth; local research shows that 81% of high school students feel overwhelmed by unwanted content, while 59% feel current platforms fail to protect them.

The drive behind Tribela is deeply personal for founder Natalie Boll, who was inspired to act after her own child’s experience with harmful online content. In this Q&A, Natalie shares how insights from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Oxford researchers helped shape Tribela’s proprietary AI moderation system. We dive into why Canadian safety standards are leading the global conversation and how the platform’s new Creator Fund is building a community where 88% of young users say privacy and data protection are their top priorities. —Noa Nichol

Tribela was inspired by your child’s experience online. Can you share the moment that made you realize the existing social media model wasn’t just flawed—but unsafe?

The first moment came when my daughter got her first phone. At the time, she was experiencing bullying at school, and that behaviour followed her online through anonymous apps connected to larger platforms. Very harmful messages were able to reach her with no real safeguards in place.

I contacted several platform leaders, and the response I received was that the systems couldn’t reliably filter this kind of content yet, but that they were “working on it.” My immediate solution was to step away entirely and go offline.

What I later understood is that this wasn’t an isolated issue. During moments of vulnerability, recommendation systems can amplify harmful material rather than protect users from it. When the Frances Haugen disclosures came out, it confirmed that these risks were not only known internally but widespread.

That was the turning point for me. It became clear that people were being asked to choose between harmful platforms or total disconnection. Tribela was born out of the belief that there needed to be a space between, where you could keep the good parts of social media, like connection and creative discovery, without the harm.

You’ve spoken with researchers, parents, teens, and policy experts while building Tribela. What was the most surprising insight that shaped the platform’s design?

What stood out most was not how little platforms know, but how much they know. Internal research, court cases, and whistleblower disclosures consistently show that the risks are well understood.

What’s disheartening is that the current business model leaves very little incentive to change course. When engagement is the primary metric of success, even harmful content can be rewarded by the system. That realization reinforced our belief that this couldn’t be solved with surface-level fixes. It required a fundamentally different approach to design and incentives.

Tribela is incubated by Oxford University Innovation and advised by academics. How did evidence-based research change the way you approached “safety by design,” compared to how big platforms operate today?

We took a human-centred, evidence-based approach from the beginning. Everything comes back to intentionality.

First, most platforms are addictive by design. Autoplay, infinite feeds, and adaptive recommendations are not accidental, they are engineered to keep users engaged for as long as possible. Unfortunately, content that provokes strong emotional reactions often performs best.

Tribela is designed as the space between doomscrolling and digital detox. We’ve removed infinite scroll and built in natural stopping points, so users can pause and reflect instead of being pulled endlessly forward.

Second, performance mechanics dominate most platforms. Likes, follower counts, and visibility metrics create pressure to compare and perform. Over time, that can erode confidence and wellbeing. We asked a simple question: what happens if you remove those pressure points?

Tribela has no public likes or follower counts. Instead, we use private acknowledgements that allow connection without turning interaction into competition.

Third, moderation had to be proactive, not reactive. We studied civil cases tied to online harm and focused on where platforms failed. That research shaped a system designed to reduce exposure to harmful content before damage is done, not after.

You’ve cited insights from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. What warnings from her disclosures felt most urgent to address—and how is Tribela doing things differently?

One of the most urgent issues was how recommendation systems can amplify harmful material during moments of vulnerability, particularly for young users. Much of this content is invisible to adults, which makes it difficult to understand what people are actually experiencing.

This insight directly shaped Tribela’s design. We built fully customizable feeds, so users can decide what they want to see and what they don’t. That idea came from my daughter who is part of the founding team and listening closely to how young people wished they’d had more control over their online environments.

We also developed advanced moderation that understands both visual and audio context. Harmful content can be subtle or deceptive, and systems need to recognize what’s actually happening within a post, not just surface-level signals.

This was the real beginning of Tribela: building a platform that understands content in context and gives users meaningful control over their experience.

Tribela is launching its own AI moderation system, Tribela Labs. What does “responsible moderation” actually look like in practice—and why hasn’t it been a priority elsewhere?
Responsible moderation means protecting users without restricting expression. Tribela Labs was built specifically for community-based social interaction.

Every piece of text, image, audio, and video is assessed for harmful material, while still allowing room for nuance, conversation, and creativity. The goal is not to police dialogue, but to prevent exposure to content that causes harm.

In many platforms, moderation is treated as a downstream problem. For us, it’s part of the foundation.

Canadian teens surveyed said they feel overwhelmed by algorithms and underprotected online. What does Tribela do to give users back control—without turning social media into a joyless or restrictive space?

Tribela is built around what we call attention autonomy. Users control their feeds instead of being controlled by opaque systems.

Most people aren’t actively seeking harmful content, but algorithms are very good at pulling attention toward extremes. We designed Tribela to interrupt that dynamic without making the experience dull or restrictive.

The feedback we’ve received so far is that the platform feels refreshing, still engaging, but calmer and more intentional. It’s about giving people back agency, not taking things away.

Many platforms say safety is coming “later.” Why did Tribela choose to build moderation, privacy, and compliance first—even before scale?

Because retrofitting safety doesn’t work.

I was advised early on not to focus on moderation, that it could come later. But once a platform scales without it, there’s very little incentive to change. We wanted Tribela to work for multi-generational communities from day one.

Think of it like media ecosystems. Many platforms resemble premium networks, with high engagement, but are not designed for broad audiences. Tribela is meant to be a shared community space, where different people can coexist without harm.

You’ve followed court cases against major social platforms closely. What lessons did those legal battles reinforce for you as a founder building something new?

The biggest lesson was that the business model matters as much as the technology. When success is measured solely by engagement, there’s no incentive to reduce harmful behaviour or remove bots.

Tribela’s membership-supported model allows us to align incentives with users rather than attention metrics. That changes everything, from design decisions to moderation priorities.

Tribela is also launching a Creator Fund. How do you balance creator freedom with child and teen safety—especially in a digital economy driven by attention?

Many creators are actively looking for alternatives to attention-driven platforms. We’ve spoken with athletes, artists, and storytellers who want to create without being pulled into outrage or performance cycles.

Tribela’s Creator Fund supports original work without tying compensation to engagement metrics. Creators don’t need to alter their voice to fit an algorithm; they can show up as themselves.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, what would success look like—not just for Tribela as a company, but for how young people experience social media as a whole?

Social media isn’t inherently bad. At its best, it can be connective, creative, and inspiring.

Success looks like people using social platforms with intention, not compulsion. Logging on to connect, discover, and then logging off to live their lives. Tribela is about proving that social media can support real life, rather than compete with it.