Why can it not be both? It is piracy because you access content that should be payed with your time (ads) instead of money, by bypassing the front door/line of ads and going in through the backdoor.

You do guard yourself from virus and some data hording and it can also be true that you don't find it worth it of your time and only want to consume without interruptions.

I also use an ad blocker. It is the first thing I install on a browser. The internet is impossible to navigate in without it and I try to only use sites without ads if possible... But I do believe it is piracy to block it, and it is my choice.

I only pay for nebula and Spotify so all the creators who is on there at least get something from me. But I don't know if that is even close to enough.

Linus is not one of them and will never be haha (I rarely like any of their video formats)