YouTube videos SUDDENLY autoplaying in new windows! 🤬🤬

I have a MacBook Pro, same one I've had for at least 3 years, and I had other Pros before now. My Safari settings have always prevented YouTube videos in Safari from autoplaying when I open them in new windows. My settings are the same as they have always been, and I haven't seen any new settings, but all of a sudden now when I right-click and open a YouTube link in a new window it autoplays, which is annoying af. I'm sure some other people out there may be used to that always having been the case for you, but it has never been the case for me for as long as I've been watching YouTube videos for well over 10 years.

I suppose this is just a rant. Maybe Google/YouTube changed something to force videos to autoplay to try to trigger ads playing, but I have Premium, so they aren't getting any ad revenue from me, either way.