Indeed, it's quite the opposite. Nostr's relays, far from representing true decentralization, are essentially mini-monopolies that completely betray the protocol's original idea.

Many relays are managed by a few entities who can easily censor, filter, or even eliminate content, exactly like the centralized platforms Nostr aims to overcome. The promise of decentralization often reduces to a mere illusion: users are forced to rely on a few 'trustworthy' relays, which effectively recreate the same control mechanisms they wanted to eliminate.

In short, at the moment, relays are more of a limitation than a solution, a paradox that reveals all the shortcomings of a protocol that preaches well but performs poorly.