Was this title intentionally written in a way as to make people think he had died?

Yes, it is still OK to use those services. The law is aimed at the messaging/social media businesses, not individuals, and is vague enough that they won’t have to do anything around their E2EE until there is viable technology available to square the circle of allowing for the checking of illegal abuse content while not functionally destroying E2EE. So potentially never.

This is what I use. Not amazing, but given it’s possible to use Messenger through it as well if needed, it’s better than nothing.