What a fucking stupid thing to say.
GDPR requires a few things: don't collect too much data; be honest about why you're collecting it; allow corrections; in some situations allow deletion.
This isn't a a boot crushing people.
Would you please stop going on tilt like this on HN? You know we ban people for commenting this way.
It's perhaps more poetic than is the norm here. That doesn't make it a fucking stupid thing to say.
The reality is that since we don't yet know how this will play out, those who are risk averse, whether by personality or positioning (because some people just can't afford to take risks), will tend to flee from what could be a crushing burden. Furthermore, if someone is essentially in survival mode and can't spare the time and energy to read the GDPR and become confident they know how to deal with it, then just needing to read it and adapt can be a de facto crushing burden without any fines being levied.