Totally agree. There should be a digital consumer bill of rights, that includes the right to disable autoplaying videos. Even the NYTimes home page is plastered with them these days, it’s awful. Another one is control over sort order, having the option of “most recent first”, vs. “most likely to keep you here”.
The point was that we should have some kind of social contract that pushes back against the worst known addictive product choices, and to create public awareness about them. Mobile Safari has some limited functionality built-in like "Hide Distracting Items" and reader mode, but it's not enough. iOS has Accessibility > Motion > Auto-Play Video Previews, but that seems to only impact Messages.
It's also an argument to protect the rights of the actual owner of the site. I'll put whatever I want on my website, and you can come to or not. I don't need a bill of rights that limits my freedom of expression. I will present my voice in any fashion I see fit on my website.
Use a browser that allows you to modify the content in a way that presents the content you want. That's the boundary you have to play with. My computer gives the information I want to your computer. Your computer does what it wants with that information.
If your OS doesn't allow you to use a browser of your choice, then that is the restriction you attack. Not mine.
You are free to do whatever you want with your website. This is about the limited number of platforms where communities exist online these days, and how those platforms knowingly using addictive and harmful UX patterns to keep people hooked. I think you and I deserve some level of consumer protection from that.
