Yes. It’s absolutely ludicrous for me to say “ah, some random people on the internet say the EU regulators in their country have been fine, so I’ll be A-OK with dozens of countries all assuming vague and unchecked power over my business in perpetuity.”

I didn’t elect these governments, I don’t know them or trust them, and I don’t know or trust you either.

I don’t trust unaccountable power as a general rule.

I don't know any accountability processes for the moderation on hackernews, but I'm sure you've considered that already.

What? Not sure what point you’re trying to make here, but if it’s the point that the HN moderators are not accountable to me, it’s kind of a pointless one. Of course they’re not, but I’m free to leave. The EU is claiming jurisdiction over my business because of something their citizens have done, not anything I’ve done. If you don’t want me to have your citizens’ data, tell them to stop sending it to me.

> The EU is claiming jurisdiction over my business

I think this is a huge strawman argument that you've constructed and hinged your entire line of reasoning on.

The EU claims jurisdiction over EU businesses. The reason very large US businesses are caring about GDPR, is because they are multinational businesses with a significant presence in the EU, i.e. they are also EU businesses. And if you're doing business in a country, you have to comply with local law. There's nothing new or weird or over-reaching about that.

When Facebook constructs a data center somewhere in the EU, the local Facebook subsidiary has to comply with local zoning laws, building codes, and labour laws.

When Facebook gathers personal data about EU citizens, the local Facebook subsidiaries have to comply with local privacy laws.

Note that Facebook isn't extending the GDPR protections to non-EU users, because it doesn't have to! It only has to extend GDPR protections to EU users, if they wish to keep their European subsidiaries.