Tech
Republicans Claimed Biden Censored YouTube. 20 Employees Seem to Say Otherwise
In a letter to a House committee last month, legal counsel for Alphabet, YouTube’s parent company, claimed that president Joe Biden’s administration sought to “influence” the company to crack down on Covid-19 misinformation. Republicans celebrated the letter as an apparent admission of Democratic censorship.
But Democrats seem to be throwing cold water on the allegations. In a new letter to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan first reported by WIRED, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin shares half a dozen excerpts of transcripts with 20 Alphabet employees. According to the letter, none of them claim they were ever pressured to suppress or remove content at the behest of the Biden administration. The interviews come from several years of conversations with Youtube employees focused on policy and health, and in trust and safety roles; they appear to undercut years of GOP accusations of the Biden administration censoring social media platforms during the pandemic.
“As thousands of pages of transcripts of testimony make clear, not a single one of Alphabet’s employees testified about any coercion or undue pressure from the Biden administration,” Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, says in the letter. “Are you now asserting that all of these witnesses lied to or misled the Committee? Is it more likely that all of these 20 witnesses got together to plan and provide false testimony or that you wrote an unsworn letter contradicting all of them to placate President Trump and his servants?”
The release of the full transcripts would need to be approved by Republicans on the committee, a spokesperson for the Democrats tells WIRED. (Congressman Jim Jordan’s office did not respond to a request for comment. He is the GOP leader of the committee.)
“Jim Jordan’s quest to find evidence of a censorship regime that never existed is well into its third year, and he continues to suppress the testimonies of the many, many witnesses who contradict his fantasy,” claims Renée DiResta, a disinformation expert and associate research professor at Georgetown University.
A week after counsel on behalf of Alphabet sent that letter to the committee in September claiming that they were pressed by the Biden administration, YouTube agreed to dismiss and settle a lawsuit involving the suspension of President Donald Trump’s account on the platform after the January 6 US Capitol riots (YouTube, which paid $24.5 million, admitted no fault in the settlement).
Tech
Amazon’s Spring Sale Is So-So, but Cadence Capsules Are a Bright Spot
The WIRED Reviews Team has been covering Amazon’s Big Spring Sale since it began at on Wednesday, and the overall deals have been … not great, honestly. So far, we’ve found decent markdowns on vacuums, smart bird feeders, and even an air fryer we love, but I just saw that Cadence Capsules, those colorful magnetic containers you may have seen on your social media pages, are 20 percent off. (For reference, the last time I saw them on sale, they were a measly 9 percent off.)
If you’re not familiar, they allow you to decant your full-sized personal care products you use at home—from shampoo and sunscreen to serums and pills—into a labeled, modular system of hexagonal containers that are leak-proof, dishwasher safe, and stick together magnetically in your bag or on a countertop. No more jumbled, travel-sized toiletries and leaky, mismatched bottles and tubes.
Cadence Capsules have garnered some grumbling online for being overly heavy or leaking, but I’ve been using them regularly for about a year—I discuss decanting your daily-use products in my guide to How to Pack Your Beauty Routine for Travel—and haven’t experienced any leaks. They do add weight if you’re trying to travel super-light, and because they’re magnetic, they will also stick to other metal items in your toiletry bag, like bobby pins or other hair accessories. This can be annoying, especially if you’re already feeling chaotic or in a hurry.
Otherwise, Capsules are modular, convenient, and make you feel supremely organized—magnetic, interchangeable inserts for the lids come with permanent labels like “shampoo,” “conditioner,” “cleanser,” and “moisturizer.” Maybe you love this; maybe you don’t. But at least if you buy on Amazon, you can choose which label genre you get (Haircare, Bodycare, Skincare, Daily Routine). If this just isn’t your jam, the Cadence website offers a set of seven that allows you to customize the color and lid label of each Capsule, but that set is not currently on sale.
Tech
Fellow Readers, Don’t Miss These E-Reader Sales
This is the older Kindle Scribe, but the price and features are the best you’ll get, especially when it’s on sale like this. I still reach for this model even though I have the newer third generation, and keep in mind the second generation will also get some of the newer software and experiences over time. With the sale, it’s half the price of the newer model.
If you’re already a Kindle reader and looking to upgrade, it’s likely because you want a new feature like a color screen. While the Kobo above is the better buy, if you want to stay in the Kindle ecosystem but add some color to your books, both the Colorsoft and Colorsoft Signature are on sale.
If you’re looking to spend as little as possible, the basic Kindle (11th generation) is still a great e-reader and is currently under $100. It can do almost everything the other Kindles can (except the Scribe) on a snappy black-and-white screen. It doesn’t have a warm front light either, but it’s still a great purchase for the price.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.
Tech
This Speaker I Tried From Soundboks Can Handle a Real Party
In addition to the rubber balls, there’s a nice physical interface on the side for adjusting volume and pairing multiple Mix speakers together if you have multiple on hand (I was only sent the single mono speaker). Setup involves installing the Soundboks app, pairing to the speaker via Bluetooth on your phone, and picking whatever you want to play. It’s all quick and painless, especially for my first-time pairing with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Otherwise, it’s all very pro audio. Everything reminds me very much of the Peavey PA system I have in my music rehearsal space. The top of the speaker features a built-in carrying handle and a place for a strap (an accessory you have to buy aftermarket, or you can fasten it with any strap you have that fits through the hole). There are also top-hat mounts for the speakers to slide onto traditional PA pole stands, if you wanted to use them in that way at a party or event.
The grill is replaceable, as is the massive internal battery, which means that these things are pretty much indestructible as long as the amp and speakers themselves still work—the battery is the weak point of most portable speakers in 2026.
I bounced it around my yard, dropped it off my patio, and generally beat the crap out of it during my two-week testing period, and the thing just needed a little wipe down and a charge when it ran out of juice. The claimed 40 hours of battery at reasonable volume is accurate, but you’ll get about eight hours at max volume (which is very good for the category). If you need to bring some walk-out music to your kid’s all-day Little League tournament, this a great way to go.
Big Sound
Photograph: Parker Hall
Soundboks calls this speaker midsize, but at 21.4 pounds and the size of a medium-size cooler, I’d still call it a large speaker. That said, the size doesn’t make it any less portable than competitors from JBL and others; you still need a car or cargo ebike to take one of these with you, so what’s a couple inches here or there? The fact that this is a rectangle actually makes it easier to strap down than many others, especially with the holes for the strap and the built-in handle to tie down through.
-
Fashion1 week agoSales at US apparel, clothing accessories stores up 4% YoY in Jan 2026
-
Tech1 week agoJustice Department Says Anthropic Can’t Be Trusted With Warfighting Systems
-
Sports1 week agoMarch Madness 2026 – How to watch in SA, start time, schedule, TV channel for NCAA championship basketball tournament
-
Fashion1 week agoSpain’s Inditex FY25 sales rise 3.2% to $46.28 bn amid strong demand
-
Politics1 week agoIran strikes Tel Aviv with cluster-warhead missiles in retaliation of Larijani’s martyrdom
-
Entertainment1 week agoVal Kilmer revived 1 year after death through AI
-
Entertainment1 week agoWith few new leads 45 days after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, investigation “becomes much harder,” expert says
-
Business1 week agoBrits cashing in jewellery as gold price hits record high


