When conducting OSINT investigations on X (formerly Twitter), videos that auto-play can interfere with your workflow and inadvertently alert subjects through view counts. Disabling auto-play gives you full control over which videos you watch and when.
Why Disable Auto-Play?
- Control your investigation: Decide which videos to view rather than having them play automatically as you scroll.
- Reduce bandwidth usage: Prevent unnecessary data consumption during extended research sessions.
- Avoid incrementing view counts: Auto-playing videos may register views, which could alert subjects under investigation.
- Maintain focus: Eliminate distracting media while reviewing timelines and threads.
Steps to Disable Video Auto-Play
1
Open X Settings
- Log in to your X (Twitter) account at x.com.
- Click More in the left-hand navigation menu.
- Select Settings and Support, then click Settings and privacy.
2
Navigate to Accessibility Settings
- In the Settings menu, click Accessibility, display, and languages.
- Click Accessibility.
3
Disable Video Auto-Play
- Under the Motion section, find the Autoplay setting.
- Change the setting from On to Never.
Videos will no longer auto-play as you scroll through timelines. You will need to manually click on each video to play it.
Tips for Investigators
Use a dedicated browser profile: Consider setting up a separate Chrome profile for OSINT work. This keeps your investigation settings isolated from your personal browsing.
- This setting applies per account -- configure it on each X account you use for investigations.
- Disabling auto-play also helps when capturing screenshots, as videos will display their thumbnail instead of a random frame.
- Combine this with the Forensic OSINT extension to capture video evidence with a full Evidence Continuity Report when you do choose to download.
