The US does not impose its laws beyond its border
Now, that is just objectively not true. See: FATCA and loads of other instances of the US being the international police.
Laws preventing free speech online is bad for everyone. Hate speech in some countries is practicing a different religion or wanting a change in government.
And, if we're being hyperbolic, regime change in other countries is sometimes things like ISIL (Also, for what it's worth, I can't think of any EU member state that defines hate speech as "practicing a different religion, by the way).
I think what you are missing is that we are not subject to their laws since we have no active presence there. Our controlling law is the country of our origin, not the country that has visitors that come to the site.
Just because they wish their being in control to be so doesn't make it so.
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If I was doing business with/in the EU, then yes, I'd be subject to their laws - but most forums do not actively pursue/target users from specific geographical areas.
You're still subject to whatever laws they would like to subject you to. Pragmatically having them enforced against you is another issue entirely.
Most of those that are ignoring the EU "laws" don't really care if they "get cut off" as their clients are not there anyway.
I am not sure what's up with the quotes; laws are still super definitely laws, even if you don't like them
Realistically, though, for people that "really don't care" about what the EU says, y'all sure seem to love ranting endlessly about it and how it's the end of free speech and the internet abroad.
Think about what countries block access to websites and ask yourself is that a country you want to live in.
Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and pretty much every other country in the world.
The majority of the websites blocked here in Russia are things related to piracy, credit card/identity sales or drug trafficking. On the other hand, taxes are low, I have four walls and a roof, clean water, and free healthcare. Personally, it's not the top of my concern list as to whether or not I can access rutracker without a proxy.
For what it's worth, though, the US actually does a lot of its own censorship and abusive international legal practices when it comes to the internet. An example would be your 'Trading with the Enemy Act'; non-American companies targeting Europeans exclusively have had their domains seized from them based on the fact that they were advertising vacations to Cuba.