Is telegram also blocked, I think it sounds like a good alternative that people can use now, if it's not already blocked.
Telegram is a terrible alternative. Messages aren't even end to end encrypted by default and they're kept accessible on Telegrams servers. See the recent news on how a russian activists Telegram account got hacked giving them access to all stored messages: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2016/04/30/russia-telegram-h...
Also this:
Thomas H. Ptacek: By default Telegram stores the PLAINTEXT of EVERY MESSAGE every user has ever sent or received on THEIR SERVER.
Edward Snowden: I respect @durov, but Ptacek is right: @telegram's defaults are dangerous. Without a major update, it's unsafe.
https://twitter.com/tqbf/status/678065993587945472
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/678271881242374144
https://twitter.com/moxie/status/678219238394298372
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/678274362609426432
And the response from Pavel where he admits that security isn't a priority
But wouldn't Signal be vulnerable to this type of block too, as they are centralized?
Disclaimer: CEO of Actor and Ex-Telegram employee.
I was looking at the Actor Developer Hub, there is a guide explaining how to install an Actor Server. Does that mean that Actor is decentralized? How does that work?