diff --git a/src/components/Content/index.tsx b/src/components/Content/index.tsx
index 5e42154c..55886c48 100644
--- a/src/components/Content/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Content/index.tsx
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import { toNote } from '@/lib/link'
 import { YOUTUBE_URL_REGEX } from '@/constants'
 import { isSpotifyOpenUrl } from '@/lib/spotify-url'
 import { canonicalZapStreamWatchUrl, isZapStreamWatchUrl } from '@/lib/zap-stream-url'
+import { shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload } from '@/lib/long-video-load-policy'
 
 // Helper function to check if a URL is a YouTube URL
 function isYouTubeUrl(url: string): boolean {
@@ -92,6 +93,9 @@ export default function Content({
     () => (iArticleUrl ? cleanUrl(iArticleUrl) || iArticleUrl : ''),
     [iArticleUrl]
   )
+  const deferLongVideoLoad = shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload(event, {
+    forceLoadMedia: mustLoadMedia
+  })
 
   // Use unified media extraction service
   const extractedMedia = useMediaExtraction(event, _content)
@@ -464,6 +468,7 @@ export default function Content({
             src={video.url}
             className="w-full max-w-full"
             mustLoad={mustLoadMedia}
+            deferLoadUntilClick={deferLongVideoLoad}
             poster={video.image || video.thumb}
             blurHash={video.blurHash}
           />
@@ -538,6 +543,7 @@ export default function Content({
               key={index}
               src={cleanedUrl}
               mustLoad={mustLoadMedia}
+              deferLoadUntilClick={deferLongVideoLoad}
               poster={tagMediaInfo?.image || tagMediaInfo?.thumb}
               blurHash={tagMediaInfo?.blurHash}
             />
@@ -566,6 +572,7 @@ export default function Content({
                 key={`url-media-${index}`}
                 src={cleanedUrl}
                 mustLoad={mustLoadMedia}
+                deferLoadUntilClick={deferLongVideoLoad}
                 poster={poster}
                 blurHash={mediaInfo?.blurHash}
               />
diff --git a/src/components/MediaGridItem/index.tsx b/src/components/MediaGridItem/index.tsx
index 81dbbd81..55de2691 100644
--- a/src/components/MediaGridItem/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/MediaGridItem/index.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { ExtendedKind, isNip71StyleVideoKind } from '@/constants'
+import { isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind } from '@/lib/long-video-load-policy'
 import { getCachedThreadContextEvents } from '@/lib/navigation-related-events'
 import { toNote } from '@/lib/link'
 import client from '@/services/client.service'
@@ -16,15 +17,18 @@ export default function MediaGridItem({ event }: { event: Event }) {
 
   /** Kind 20 is always treated as image unless imeta explicitly says video (rare mis-tag). */
   const isPictureKind = event.kind === ExtendedKind.PICTURE
+  const isLongFormVideo = isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(event.kind)
   const isVideo =
     (!isPictureKind && first?.m?.startsWith('video/')) ||
     (!isPictureKind && isNip71StyleVideoKind(event.kind))
   const isAudio = first?.m?.startsWith('audio/') || event.kind === ExtendedKind.VOICE
   const hasMultiple = media.all.length > 1
 
-  // For videos prefer the poster image; fall back to video URL (browser extracts frame)
+  // For videos prefer the poster image; long-form feed tiles never prefetch the .mp4 (open note to play).
   const displayUrl = isVideo
-    ? (first?.image ?? first?.url)
+    ? isLongFormVideo
+      ? (first?.image ?? first?.thumb)
+      : (first?.image ?? first?.url)
     : (first?.thumb ?? first?.url)
 
   const handleClick = () => {
@@ -38,9 +42,9 @@ export default function MediaGridItem({ event }: { event: Event }) {
       onClick={handleClick}
     >
       {displayUrl ? (
-        isVideo && !first?.image ? (
+        isVideo && !isLongFormVideo && !(first?.image ?? first?.thumb) && first?.url ? (
           <video
-            src={displayUrl}
+            src={first.url}
             className="h-full w-full object-cover"
             muted
             preload="metadata"
diff --git a/src/components/MediaPlayer/index.tsx b/src/components/MediaPlayer/index.tsx
index 39e64b62..6ea0c594 100644
--- a/src/components/MediaPlayer/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/MediaPlayer/index.tsx
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ export default function MediaPlayer({
   src,
   className,
   mustLoad = false,
+  deferLoadUntilClick = false,
   poster,
   blurHash,
   fallbackPageUrl
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ export default function MediaPlayer({
   src: string
   className?: string
   mustLoad?: boolean
+  /**
+   * When true, never autoload/embed (even if global auto-load media is on) until the user taps the
+   * placeholder. Used for NIP-71 long-form video events in feeds.
+   */
+  deferLoadUntilClick?: boolean
   poster?: string
   /** NIP-94 / imeta blurhash for lazy placeholder when poster is missing */
   blurHash?: string
@@ -89,7 +95,8 @@ export default function MediaPlayer({
   /** Probe result wins when set (e.g. audio-only mp4); URL hint avoids a blank frame before useEffect runs. */
   const effectiveMediaType = mediaType ?? urlEmbedSurfaceHint
 
-  const showEmbed = mustLoad || autoLoadMedia || userClickedLoad
+  const showEmbed =
+    mustLoad || (!deferLoadUntilClick && autoLoadMedia) || userClickedLoad
 
   useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (!autoLoadMedia) setUserClickedLoad(false)
diff --git a/src/components/Note/VideoNote.tsx b/src/components/Note/VideoNote.tsx
index f31e2d77..c69aa0aa 100644
--- a/src/components/Note/VideoNote.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Note/VideoNote.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,21 @@
 import { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
 import Content from '../Content'
 
-export default function VideoNote({ event, className }: { event: Event; className?: string }) {
+export default function VideoNote({
+  event,
+  className,
+  loadMedia = false
+}: {
+  event: Event
+  className?: string
+  /** When true (note detail / expanded view), long-form video may autoload. */
+  loadMedia?: boolean
+}) {
   // Content component already handles all media rendering (from content and tags)
   // with proper deduplication, so we don't need to add anything extra
   return (
     <div className={className}>
-      <Content event={event} />
+      <Content event={event} mustLoadMedia={loadMedia} />
     </div>
   )
 }
diff --git a/src/components/Note/index.tsx b/src/components/Note/index.tsx
index 2299da9f..1cb78336 100644
--- a/src/components/Note/index.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Note/index.tsx
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ export default function Note({
   } else if (event.kind === ExtendedKind.PICTURE) {
     content = <PictureNote className="mt-2" event={event} />
   } else if (isNip71StyleVideoKind(event.kind)) {
-    content = <VideoNote className="mt-2" event={event} />
+    content = <VideoNote className="mt-2" event={event} loadMedia={showFull} />
   } else if (event.kind === ExtendedKind.RELAY_REVIEW) {
     content = <RelayReview className="mt-2" event={displayEvent} />
   } else if (isCalendarEventKind(event.kind)) {
diff --git a/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.test.ts b/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66679e5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { ExtendedKind } from '@/constants'
+import type { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
+import {
+  isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind,
+  shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload
+} from './long-video-load-policy'
+
+function fakeEvent(kind: number): Event {
+  return { kind, id: 'ab'.repeat(32), pubkey: 'cd'.repeat(32), created_at: 0, tags: [], content: '' }
+}
+
+describe('long-video-load-policy', () => {
+  it('treats kind 21 and 34235 as long-form', () => {
+    expect(isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(ExtendedKind.VIDEO)).toBe(true)
+    expect(isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(ExtendedKind.VIDEO_ADDRESSABLE)).toBe(true)
+    expect(isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(ExtendedKind.SHORT_VIDEO)).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('defers autoload for long-form events unless forced', () => {
+    expect(shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload(fakeEvent(ExtendedKind.VIDEO))).toBe(true)
+    expect(
+      shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload(fakeEvent(ExtendedKind.VIDEO), { forceLoadMedia: true })
+    ).toBe(false)
+    expect(shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload(fakeEvent(ExtendedKind.SHORT_VIDEO))).toBe(false)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.ts b/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ca3f48a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/long-video-load-policy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { ExtendedKind } from '@/constants'
+import type { Event } from 'nostr-tools'
+
+/** Long-form video threshold (matches publish-time kind 21 vs 22 split). */
+export const LONG_VIDEO_MIN_DURATION_SEC = 600
+
+/** NIP-71 kinds published for videos longer than {@link LONG_VIDEO_MIN_DURATION_SEC}. */
+export function isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(kind: number): boolean {
+  return kind === ExtendedKind.VIDEO || kind === ExtendedKind.VIDEO_ADDRESSABLE
+}
+
+/**
+ * Feed / timeline: do not fetch long-form video bytes until the user opts in.
+ * Detail views pass `forceLoadMedia` / `mustLoadMedia` to bypass this.
+ */
+export function shouldDeferLongVideoAutoload(
+  event: Event | null | undefined,
+  options?: { forceLoadMedia?: boolean }
+): boolean {
+  if (options?.forceLoadMedia) return false
+  if (!event) return false
+  return isLongFormNip71VideoEventKind(event.kind)
+}