Is Blocking Ads Unethical?

Are ad blockers stealing from your favorite websites? Oh no, whatever will CNN do if they aren't allowed to load millions of tracking scripts in order to better serve you Google ads? Learn whether or not you're a bad person for using adblockers like all the "disable your adblock" popups say you are...

[Diggnuts]

Excellent arguments. Blocking ads is not only a right! It is the right thing to do!

[gijshollebolle]

The fact that to many people are unaware about the dark sides and patterns of advertising still in 2023, it only has gotten worse. advertising has become a form of surveilance. i'm on of those ppl almost yelling at the telly's at my friends places that have android on their tv and they're watching classical youtube on it, only to have a playlist of music or video's interrupted every minute. tbh i am willing to make a very bold statement here, i have lost friends to advertising. some of my friends are litterally brainwashed by the advertising and have become braindead and there are a few cases where ads financially ruined friends. the companies that are deliberatly targetting users and we live in a time where twitter has become subscribtion based now and nothing has changed, it only has gotten worse.

[madis]

But Google is not forcing people to use their products. This is what makes the argument in favor of ad-blocking difficult for me. I'm starting to think that simply opting out and not using the sites is the only ethical and effective way to combat their overreach. Breaking the rules of a company (that is not forcing me to use their product, I voluntarily opted in by visiting the site) is not ethically right.

[dafoex]

I agree with your point on newspapers not being advert funded for another reason - accountability. If newspapers are funded by the people that buy them, they have more incentive to print a factual account (or at least align their political spin with the principals of their readers) whereas advertisement funded papers are more incentivised to print what aligns with the views of their sponsors. I think the same goes for anything funded by advertisers; the entity being funded is more likely to cave to the wills of the sponsor because they don't want to lose their income.

[Youbeentagged]

I've noticed, when you ask someone about their opinions on piracy,
If they say they have very strong opinions on this topic (without outright telling you what they are), you already know they are pro.
If they say they don't care much / haven't given it much thought, you know they're normies.

From this, we can conclude there is no individual who strongly believes that piracy is immoral. (Unless they have a vested interest - ie: data)

[The_Wailing_Doom]

I just got into an argument about ad blocking not being equal to piracy. Ad blocking is protecting yourself, not stealing. Piracy is only stealing. Period.

[regonagy]

ooh yessir!
Not only are these ads getting more rampant, but you are tracked as well
How is defending myself unethical?
Google and vermin like adfly and what not can cry me a river about me not letting someone get their 4th Ferrari, guess what, I'm not a number, so I refuse to be threated as such!

[renewagain]

Of course not. It's morally righteous and a moral duty.

Ads of course ARE unethical, and illegal. They are a form of cyber-terrorism and should be punished in the most severe of fashions.

[gamble]

No they aren't, but capitalism is!