Muted autoplay is unblockable because I can write a script that flips through frames. It's also equivalent to GIFs which have been around since time immemorial.
Most news sites don't try to defeat my adblocker, to offer one example. It would certainly be in their interests to do so, but it's rare that they actively try. When they do, they usually try to block access while asking me to turn it off, rather than trying to sneak ads past it.
I'd probably stop visiting a site that actively tried to force video to play when I've asked my browser not to.
Since I don't allow scripts to execute in my browser by default, I've already blocked your autoplay workaraound.