Technology

I currently use Telegram for my friends and family, but have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the UK Government is either reaching agreement for backdoors with messaging services, or is trying its hardest to.

Unless you start an encrypted chat, Telegram chats are not E2E.

I’m also on Element/Matrix. Before I try to get my contacts to join me on there, should I be aware of any privacy issues or is that a good place to head?

Host your own Matrix node, and then you don't have to worry about prying eyes. Realistically, instead of worrying about the protocol, worry about the content of the text. Use PGP to encrypt your own text and send it over clearnet. Who cares at that point.

Matrix is good for private general messaging. The fact that it's decentralised means it can also withstand things like government-ordered shutdowns or back doors, since there is no central point that controls the whole network.

Two things to be aware of:

• Some non-message bits (e.g. room topic text and membership) have not yet been moved to the encrypted channel, so those could be read by the administrator of a homeserver that participates in your chat room. Since most people care primarily about keeping the message content private, this is an acceptable trade-off to get all the things that Matrix offers.
• The upcoming Matrix 2.0 features and design choices simplify the UI and fix some occasional errors. It might be worth waiting until this stuff officially lands in the client apps before bringing your contacts to Matrix, for a better experience all around.

I think at this point it would be funnier to just use something obviously unsecure like discord but share your public key with the other user and then send encrypted text.

No proprietary software can truley provide secure messaging

You may want SimpleX. You can still self-host your own server if you wish, but it doesn't have nearly the metadata issues of matrix and encryption keys are stored in a database that you back up instead of constantly breaking

The two encrypted messaging platforms I currently suggest are XMPP or Matrix. Both are usually fine and are decentralized. The main thing with them is to either self-host or choose a server you trust to set up an account — which applies to the Fediverse in general.

I've heard good things about simplex give it a look

There’s also Wire

E2EE and can be used as desktop or phone app interchangeably. No phone number required for signup.

Family has been using this for years now