{"id":768873,"date":"2026-06-29T13:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/768873\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T13:13:16","slug":"canadian-social-media-platform-gander-officially-launches-this-week-promising-data-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/768873\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian social-media platform Gander officially launches this week, promising data sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ben Waldman, one of five co-founders of the Canadian-made social media platform Gander, is photographed in Ottawa, in June, 2025.Ashley Fraser\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Gander Social Inc., a crowdfunded Canadian social media platform born out of the nation\u2019s \u201celbows up\u201d moment, is promising data sovereignty and connection ahead of its official launch on Canada Day. <\/p>\n

The app first opened its early access program in April, 2025, and invited beta testers to try out its products starting in January, 2026. So far, it has raised $2-million from 2,517 Canadian investors and has amassed more than 18,000 members. <\/p>\n

Created by five Canadian co-founders who grew frustrated with the flood of trolls, disinformation and divisive content they experienced on other platforms, Gander is positioning itself as an alternative to billionaire-backed social media giants, such as X and TikTok. <\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media can make you smile. You don\u2019t have to be addicted to it. We think we built something that people will want to stay because it feels right, not because they can\u2019t leave,\u201d co-founder and chief executive Ben Waldman said in an interview with The Globe and Mail. <\/p>\n

Tech leaders ready launch of Canadian social-media platform Gander to buck U.S. dominance<\/a><\/p>\n

Featuring written posts and videos in multiple feeds, the app will give users the choice to tailor content to what they most enjoy. Like social-media platform Bluesky, Gander is built on AT Protocol, which means it\u2019s part of an open, decentralized network that\u2019s not controlled by one powerful individual.<\/p>\n

AT Protocol is a federated network designed for building interoperable social media sites. It gives users the freedom to move between compatible networks, communicate with others on those networks and, most importantly, export their data to other platforms without losing their original content \u2013 a level of flexibility and ownership not offered by many other apps. <\/p>\n

Mr. Waldman compares the function to the freedom of moving your e-mail address from one interface to another. <\/p>\n

The new platform also promises to address heightened concerns about Canadian data sovereignty<\/a>, and persisting tensions in the U.S.-Canada trade war. (Wednesday also marks the beginning<\/a> of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement\u2019s formal review process.)<\/p>\n

To ensure data sovereignty, Gander partnered with cloud-service and physical server providers ThinkOn and the Canadian subsidiary of the French company OVHcloud, both located in Canada. <\/p>\n

Changing U.S. relationship has thrust Canada\u2019s data sovereignty into the spotlight<\/a><\/p>\n

To give governments, universities and other organizations the option for greater autonomy, Gander is building its own decentralized sovereign social cloud, designed for AP Protocol, called Wingspan. The software will allow organizations to choose if they store their data with Gander\u2019s partners or on independent servers. In short, if AT Protocol is the \u201croad,\u201d Wingspan is Gander\u2019s way of letting users build \u201ctowns.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gander is registered in B.C. as a for-profit benefit company, which legally requires it to commit to conducting business in a responsible and sustainable way, along with promoting one or more public benefits. The company pledges to remain owned and operated in Canada, steer clear of algorithmic user manipulation and align its moderation rules with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Mr. Waldman said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place that you can come in and you can finally post about your cat again, and not have someone land on your post and tell you just how disgusting you are or start an argument for no reason,\u201d Mr. Waldman said, emphasizing that his product\u2019s goal is not to fuel social media addiction. That issue was put on the map by the California court decision<\/a> that ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions to a 20-year-old woman for designing products to hook users without concern for their well being. <\/p>\n

For instance, Gander features a \u201cnest\u201d space where users can limit the content they see to just those who they are following closely, such as friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you log into Gander, you can just look at your nest, and see what\u2019s recent and updated from those people that matter to you, and never actually go into a feed and get distracted, and see your day wasted away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Anyone from around the world can browse Gander, but to post, comment or participate in conversation, users must be located in Canada and complete a one-time human verification using a recognized school or organization e-mail or Canada Post\u2019s Identity+ app. This also ensures all participants are over 18. <\/p>\n

Additionally, Mr. Waldman said that as Gander grows, users will have the option to toggle on and off content from different regions, opening the door for local and uniquely Canadian experiences. Still, Gander\u2019s goal is not to be isolationist, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis model allows people to have the experience that they want and connect with people around the world as they choose,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Arlene Dickinson and Amber Mac cut ties with Canadian social media startup Gander Social<\/a><\/p>\n

Gander is not alone on the quest to provide Canadians an alternative social network to big tech. EH!, founded by B.C.-based entrepreneur Jessica Glowacki, launched last year as a local discovery app offering location-based posting, interest groups and community event creation. The network has grown to more than 30,000 users. <\/p>\n

EH!\u2019s motto has been to ask, \u201chow do we celebrate Canadians, and how do we support local and specifically local economies,\u201d Ms. Glowacki said. The app is designed to give both tourists and residents \u201ca window into Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Gander is not aimed at any one specific demographic, but is conscious that Gen Z Canadians are shifting to smaller online spaces, Mr. Waldman said.Ashley Fraser\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

EH!\u2019s user data currently resides in Canada but it relies on non-Canadian-owned servers and cloud services located here. Ms. Glowacki said a strategic partnership that will move EH! in the direction of full data sovereignty is soon to be announced. <\/p>\n

While Gander is banking on full Canadian data-sovereignty to prove its value, Mr. Waldman said it is exploring multiple revenue strategies, including a subscription structure based on feedback that some people were willing to pay for ad-free social media. Yet, the basic features of Gander will remain free.<\/p>\n

He said other users don\u2019t mind seeing ads in moderation. Therefore, Gander is considering an \u201cethical sponsorship model of advertising,\u201d where aligned brands could curate their own feeds or a revenue sharing model with monetized creators, similar to Substack or Patreon. Wingspan may also potentially become an enterprise arm of Gander. <\/p>\n

Gander is not aimed at any one specific demographic, but is conscious that Gen Z Canadians are shifting to smaller online spaces and parents are worried about the effects of social media on youth, said Mr. Waldman, a father of two. He also emphasized his company\u2019s commitment to intentional growth. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s okay if on Canada Day people don\u2019t sign up because they\u2019re doing Canada Day things and they\u2019re enjoying family and everything,\u201d he said. \u201cSocial media shouldn\u2019t be their top priority.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ben Waldman, one of five co-founders of the Canadian-made social media platform Gander,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-768873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}