“People couldn’t make any money on YouTube”: Asmongold supports ad blockers despite calling them ‘stealing’

Twitch and Kick streamer Zack “Asmongold” has shared an unusual view on ad blockers. The streamer said he believes blocking advertisements is “undeniably an unethical behavior” because viewers are avoiding the form of compensation used to support online creators. However, Asmongold also admitted that he supports using ad blockers. During a recent Just Chatting stream, he explained why he sees the practice as technically unethical while still understanding why people choose to do it. He also discussed what could happen to online content if almost everyone blocked advertisements.Asmongold explains why he considers ad blocking unethicalA 1-minute-38-second clip from Asmongold’s recent stream surfaced on X on September 1, 2026. In the clip, a viewer asked whether he supported ad blockers or considered their use a form of “stealing.”Asmongold gave a direct answer.“I think I support ad blocking, and it is stealing. That's my opinion. I think ad blocking is undeniably an unethical behavior. There is no universe in which ad block is ethical.”He then explained that he does not believe people should pretend there is nothing wrong with avoiding advertisements while consuming free online content.“And I've always said, ‘If you're going to steal, steal. But steal with a smile and don't tell me you're Robin Hood.’”Asmongold’s main argument was based on what he described as a “social contract” between content creators and their audiences.He said:“Every single piece of media on the internet, you are entering into a social contract with the person who's providing that media, that you will provide them with some degree of collateral, or some degree of restitution, for consuming their labor or their input or whatever they're doing; their creation.”He argued that intentionally blocking advertisements removes part of that exchange.“Whenever you intentionally forego that, you know, basically that social contract that you have with that other person, you are making a world to where, if everybody did that, the content and the material that you are consuming could not exist.”For Asmongold, the issue is therefore less about one viewer blocking an advertisement and more about what could happen if the practice became universal.Asmongold says most YouTube creators could lose money if everyone used ad blockersAsmongold then applied the same argument to YouTube and other platforms that rely on advertising revenue.“Like, if everybody was using an ad block, most people couldn't make any money on YouTube, and the majority of videos on YouTube itself might just simply, you know, stop existing.”However, he acknowledged that the situation is not completely straightforward. He pointed to problematic advertisements as one reason viewers may choose to block ads.“Don't get me wrong here. Right? There are counterarguments to this, such as, ‘Well, what about scam ads? Do I have an obligation to show scam ads?’”He described the issue as a series of problems that have developed as internet advertising has changed.“And so, this is a Russian nesting doll of problems because we've had a lot of evolutions of it.”Despite those complications, Asmongold returned to his original position.“However, I think on a very baseline level, ad block is unethical, and I support using ad block.”His comments put him in an unusual position. He considers ad blocking morally wrong but still supports the choice to use it, particularly when users have concerns about the advertisements being shown to them.The discussion comes shortly after Asmongold made another widely discussed comment about fellow streamer Steven “Destiny” Bonnell II. Asmongold said that he, Felix “xQc” Lengyel and Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker might not have become the creators they are today without Destiny’s early influence on livestreaming. He specifically credited Destiny with helping establish non-gaming content on Twitch.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.