You'll need to define what you mean by "politics". I get what you mean but plenty idiots will try to bend the rules with "ackshyually everything is politics!" or "nooo this is no politics, it's totes something else!". Doubly true if recruiting users from this shithole. There's an example of that in this thread by the way.

Don't expect people to do due diligence, they won't. Referral codes are still a good idea however since they allow you to know who is inviting who, so it's easier to cut bad faith agents by the root.

Funding through a premium experience seems like a good idea, as long as the "premium" part is mostly invisible for the other users. Otherwise it might create situations like "I pay for this shit so I'm right so you're arguement is invalid". And never take funding into account for the sake of rule enforcement.

Mod logs being public is amazing. Do it.

Another important thing is to look for a clear niche for your alternative. At least at the start. Later on you can expand further, but the idea is to get the ball rolling. Since you want to avoid politics and flamewars then perhaps hobbies, games, food are a good start.