I think it depends on which community (instance) you’re trying to post. Some instances are blocking VPNs, e.g. lemmy.world. I assume you’ve already tried but try switching to a different VPN server.

Lemmy. world blocks VPNs - https://lemmy.world/post/12979118

Exactly. Also, there was a post a few days ago about google secretly installing an app on Android phones, something to do with automatically blurring nsfw images in messages. Who knows what else it is capable of, or if there’s software on our phones that won’t show up anywhere (list of apps, running processes, etc.).

Interesting times…

I agree with using open source software, but the source code of said chat apps is just one part of the equation.

AFAIK cryptography implementation relies on the operating system / firmware the app is running on (they tend to be closed source). Most implementations rely on random generators provided be the operating system. Doesn’t really matter how good the encryption implementation is in the chat app if the software it relies on is compromised - see book I recommended above (The hacker and the state).

I suspect it’s the latter one. The book titled “The Hacker and the State” goes into detail about how it can be done (or may have been done in the past). A fascinating read for anyone interested in the subject.