this seems like a very delusional take to me

> It argues that people should be permitted to say whatever they wanted, provided they obey the laws. that's exactly how it works

> Most recently the EU is considering a “ban conversion therapy.”

this has nothing to do with the opinions that are expressed in conversion therapy but with the insane practices - which actually try to enforce people to think like they believe is the "right" way to think about the world, which is far more restrictive than just letting people be themselves

> Really Europe (and other places) are using it as a way to weaken freedom of speech.

this is unfortunately true, too many extreme right wing politicians have been successful recently

> It’s a bit scary the Europe is leading the way on this.

it isn't, the US (though not just the US of course) famously collects data and searches through all of it if they need, and recently ICE had a hand full of incidents where they clearly used databases to profile people (just look at their use of AI cameras at protests)