Absolutely. I know from personal experience that much of what remains of independent journalism in India, as well as some NGO work (long under government scrutiny) is conducted through Signal and Element.
Perhaps I should add that I do not wish to undermine the terrorism situation in India, which is very much real. Regardless, there is a paradox because at the same time the associated terrorism laws and hacking operations have been misused to target opposition, journalists, scientists, activists, and many others.
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/dangerous-...
Besides Pegasus and such and the interception issues with SMS, might be as well due to HUMINT and the weaknesses in verifying fingerprints.
Probably it would be best for people in some of these countries to do their work offline.