You are probably thinking about alternatives to Telegram once it is known that a judge of the National Court has ordered a preventive blocking of the service in Spain. The order says it is based on insufficient response by those responsible for Telegram to legal requests related to the complaint alleged copyright infringementwhich is presented by Mediaset, Antena 3, Movistar and Egeda.

Measures with global media impact it has no parallels in democratic countries, because Telegram has so far only been banned in dictatorships and for reasons (repression) other than copyright. Even though the municipality declared it “There is no other type of measure that could stop the reported events from happening again”Telegram block notification was widely criticized in all fields. The fact that he was able to ‘agree’ with extremes like VOX and Podemos says it all.

From there, we agree with the general impression that the judge of the National Court (remember the third most important court in the country) “went too far” and decided on the measure absolutely disproportionate. Only a small fraction of Telegram’s eight million users potentially use the app to share pirated content. In addition to regular users, it is also used by companies and professionals like us, who offer you channels from our six portals, from MC to MCPRO and of course verylinux, where we started it.

Furthermore, if we are talking about copyright, it should be noted that much more is involved in competitors such as WhatsApp (simply by the number of users), in other social networks or in services such as peer networks. By the same argument, we would have to block “the biggest piracy container on the planet” (Google), where a simple search leads to pirated content, and generally shut down the entire Internet. Except, The measure would affect fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of information. Unheard of for the pre-trial stage, without a trial or verdict.

The best alternatives to Telegram

Having said all of the above, and in the event that the order ends up being handled by the Internet access providers to which it is directed, we would like to remind you of some alternative uses of this instant messaging service. Of course, many of us will continue to use Telegram via VPN or the TOR network, although it is unclear at what level ISPs will block access. Just in case, we leave you with some alternatives.

Whatsapp: most popular

Meta (Facebook) has a terrible privacy record and all WhatsApp data is used in Mark Zuckerberg’s other services. That was one of the reasons so that many of us can convince family, friends and co-workers of the need to switch to other applications that are more respectful of user data.

Personally, it will be impossible for me to go back, but I understand that many users do. The Meta application was successfully occupied “whole for part” and it is common that – except in specialized media – the term “guasap” is used to define an entire category of instant messaging applications. Admittedly, WhatsApp works and is getting better as it evolves. Probably yes the most cross-cutting service in terms of age groups and usually serves as a gateway to less digitized population groups.

This type of application has become one of the essential applications for any smartphone and many of us use it on our personal computers as well. It is certainly the most widely used software along with web browsers and is used today for communication tasks such as text chat but also others such as voice calls, video conferencing and sending multimedia content. It’s not the best, nor the most privatebut if you are looking for the most popular app with a gigantic number of 2000 million users, there is the fireproof WhatsApp.

Signal: the one that grew the most

A project promoted by Edward Snowden, Jack Dorsey or technologist Bruce Schneier is a project whose responsibility falls on an independent non-profit organization that is not dependent on any major technology company and is sustained by voluntary donations. Furthermore, it is about Open Source development, which means your code is available online for public inspection and any privacy issues or security flaws can be verified by experts. In fact, WhatsApp’s internal encryption system is built on a signal code.

completely free, this messaging service offers video, voice and text chat, voice and video calls with end-to-end encryption, as well as secure file and photo transfers. With functions similar to Telegram and WhatsApp and a very easy-to-use interface typical of this type of application, it works under the protocol Signal Messaging Protocolwidely recognized as the most secure messaging protocol available.

Even more important is the minimum amount of information that the service collects, only the phone number, the date you joined the service, and the last time you logged in. Any other data such as your contact list, groups you belong to or any other type of content is encrypted and stored on the device. As a result, no one, including Signal employees, can see any of this data without physical access to your device.

It is available for free for Android and Apple mobile devices as well as Windows, Mac and Linux PCs. Since the announcement of changes to WhatsApp’s data transfer policy to Facebook, Signal downloads have multiplied by the thousands and are still growing. Without a doubt, one of the best alternatives to Telegram for those who don’t want to go back to WhatsApp.

Discord: the most versatile

You probably know Discord as a chat platform for games, since it started there, but over time it has become something more, and those in charge are promoting it as an alternative to WhatsApp, Telegram, Teams and even the more professional Slack, depending on what the user’s needs are. That combination of functions A simple interface is one of its advantages, but here we point out those that instant messaging brings.

It is server based but also has a private messaging feature which is very similar to WhatsApp. In the “Friends” tab, you can add members using their username or player tags for private messages, group chats, group calls, media sharing, and more. You can also create a group chat with up to 10 friends. If you need more, you can create your own Discord server.

Unlike Signal and Telegram, you don’t have to share your phone number or any real name that identifies you. It’s free and available for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows and Linux, and a web version for any browser. This weekend we’re seeing a lot of movement towards Discord as Telegram’s potential blocking became known.

Threema: paid but the most secure

While most messaging apps are “free” and some like WhatsApp, payment comes masked with your data, Threema isn’t cut out and is paid for, albeit at an insignificant cost as a one-time $2.99 ​​fee that many users would be happy to pay if it worked as promised. and we managed to change family and friends…

Threema offers End-to-end encryption for all data passing through your service. It it includes messages, video calls, files and even status updates. The app doesn’t skimp on features and has the usual text messaging, voice calling, video calling, file sharing, groups, lists, and desktop web client access. Threema does not collect any user data and does not display any ads.

An application created in Switzerland and using exclusive servers hosted there, which allows you to chat completely anonymously, since it is not even necessary to link a phone number or email to your account (they are optional). The service generates a random ID when you start using the app, which other users can use to contact you.

It is available for Android (if you want with APK without going through the Google Play Store), iOS and web browsers. Threema has recently completed the transition to open source software and the code is regularly reviewed, so the user can be sure that there is nothing under the hood that could compromise anonymity.

Keybase: the most private

It’s not for all users, though who are most concerned about privacy Maybe you won’t find another like it. Keybase started as a directory for public and private identification keys, but it also has an instant messaging component that can be used for private and group messaging.

Keybase is a open source application and uses public key cryptography to protect messages. Messages, media and file transfers are protected in such a way that even Keybase cannot read the messages. Because it is based on public key identifiers, it can also be used anonymously. It is available for free for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and Mac.

Wickr Me: military grade

Like the previous one, this is not a well-known development (although it has been available for several years), nor is it intended for mass consumption, since it puts privacy and security before any other function, just like Keybase, but one step further, because it promises “Military-grade” security in communications and in fact, after being validated by prestigious security research teams, it has been recommended for use by military authorities.

Wickr Me uses anonymous accounts, pin any personally identifiable information in the registry, without storing metadata and without the developer having access to any information or contacts. All data sent, whether text or voice messages, videos or images, is protected by strong end-to-end encryption. One of the distinctive features of this development is that all messages and attachments They will self-destruct after a certain period of time which users can set.

The development is open source and available on GitHub for community audit. It is freely available for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and Mac, although it has some restrictions on the number of participants in groups (up to 10) or in audio or video calls (only 1). The Wickr Pro version is paid and allows you to fully utilize the potential of this “ultra private” application.

Wire: most business

It is an enterprise collaboration suite with secure messaging, group chat capabilities, file sharing, and other features that offers a free version called Wire Personal for free use.

To create an account, you must enter an email address or phone number. This development records some data, but not to the extent that WhatsApp does. It has end to end encryption and is developed under an open source model. Wire Personal is available for major platforms, Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Linux, in addition to the web version.

As you have seen, there is no shortage of alternatives to Telegram, although – apart from WhatsApp – they still do not have enough users to be used by the general public. But if we are able to convince family or friends to try other things, sure We will improve our instant messaging experience. For our part, we’d bet on Signal for general use and Discord as the best combination for use in game chats as well. If the Telegram lock fills up…