How to turn off autoplay video on Facebook and Twitter
LatestTuesday night, Facebook and Twitter were besieged by graphic, disturbing videos of a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in which a black man named Alton Sterling was shot and killed by two police officers at point-blank range.
Because both Facebook and Twitter support auto-playing video, many users ended up watching the Alton Sterling shooting video by accident as they scrolled through their feeds. These auto-play features make it easier for users to see videos without clicking, but when the videos are disturbing, they can become dangerous for people who could be traumatized by seeing these kinds of graphic depictions of violence.
For future reference, and for your mental health, here is how to disable autoplay video on Facebook and Twitter.
Click on the small triangle in the upper-right hand corner of your main Facebook screen to access your settings menu.
Click “videos” in the left-hand menu, then under “auto play videos,” select “off.”
Find your settings menu by clicking on your profile photo in the upper-right hand corner of your main feed.
Under the “Content” section, unselect “Video autoplay” from the menu, and click “Save changes.”
There. Now you’ll be able to play videos when you want to, and won’t be subjected to potentially traumatic video unless you ask for it.
This post was originally published in 2015. We have added new details.