Overnight Tech: DHS denies report Russians hacked voter rolls | FCC looks to speed up 5G deployment | YouTube bans neo-Nazi channel | Panel approves FTC nominees | Spotify to file $1B IPO

View in your browser     DHS DENIES RUSSIA BREACHED VOTER SITES: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is denying the accuracy of an NBC News report that alleged Russia breached voter sites or registration systems in seven U.S. states prior to the 2016 election. "NBC's reporting tonight on the 2016 elections is not accurate and is actively undermining efforts of the Department of Homeland Security to work in close partnership with state and local governments to protect the nation's election systems from foreign actors," DHS acting press secretary Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement on Tuesday night. His comments come after U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News that an analysis requested by then President Barack Obama in the last weeks of his administration showed that Russian operatives penetrated the websites or databases of Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin. The officials said that several states were warned about the breaches before the 2016 election, but none were told that Moscow was behind it. But DHS pushed back, saying in its statement: "We have no intelligence – new or old – that corroborates NBC's reporting that state systems in seven states were compromised by Russian government actors.  We believe tonight's story to be factually inaccurate and misleading." Six of the seven states that officials said were targeted deny they were breached, based on their own investigations, NBC News reported. All state and federal officials that spoke with the news outlet said that votes were not tampered with. Illinois said they had detected a cyberattack on its voter registration system in 2016 but that nothing had been altered. This is not the first NBC News report on possible Russian hacking that has drawn fire from DHS. Earlier this month, the agency pushed back against a report from the news outlet that claimed Russian hackers had "successfully penetrated" U.S. voter systems before the election. Read more here.     Please send your tips, comments and compliments to Ali Breland (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.   SEC LAUNCHES WIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY PROBE: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent out a significant number of subpoenas and information requests probing companies and advisers that work in the cryptocurrency or digital token industry, reports The Wall Street Journal. The actions come after warnings from the SEC about how it would examine and potentially increase enforcement action on digital tokens and cryptocurrencies. The agency has previously taken action on cryptocurrency scams and what it believed to be unregistered securities masquerading as initial coin offerings (ICOs) -- a fundraising method for cryptocurrency-based projects. Read more here.   SENATE PANEL APPROVES FTC NOMINEES: The Senate Commerce Committee approved President Trump's four nominees to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The panel unanimously voted to confirm Joseph Simons, Trump's pick to chair the agency, Rohit Chopra, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson. The FTC has had just two commissioners since the Trump administration came into office more than a year ago. Simons, Phillips and Wilson are Republicans and Chopra is a Democrat. Trump still needs to nominate one more Democrat to get the consumer protection agency back to full strength. Read more here.   FACEBOOK SAYS TRUMP CAMPAIGN PAID HIGHER AD RATES THAN CLINTON: A top Facebook executive who was in charge of the platform's advertising during the 2016 presidential race said Tuesday that President Trump's campaign paid a higher rate for advertising on Facebook than Hillary Clinton's team. "After some discussion we've decided to share the CPM comparison on Trump campaign ads vs. Clinton campaign ads," Andrew Bosworth wrote on Twitter, referencing the cost per 1,000 impressions, a metric used to determine the price of an online ad. "This chart shows that during [the] general election period, Trump campaign paid slightly higher CPM prices on most days rather than lower as has been reported," tweeted Bosworth, who is now in charge of Facebook's consumer hardware. Bosworth's release of the information came after former Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale tweeted last week that he believed his campaign received cheaper advertising rates on Facebook. Read more here.   POLL: MAJORITY WORRY TECH LACKS REGULATION: A majority of Americans are concerned that the government isn't doing enough to regulate technology companies, according to a new Axios-Survey Monkey poll. The online survey, which was carried out from Feb. 21 to 23, found that 55 percent of respondents are "more concerned" that the government won't regulate technology companies enough in the future. In November, the same poll found that 40 percent were more concerned that government wouldn't do enough to regulate tech. Read more here.   FCC TO VOTE ON PROPOSAL TO SPEED 5G DEPLOYMENT: The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month on a proposal to speed up the deployment of 5G networks by allowing certain wireless facilities to bypass environmental impact reviews and other assessments. Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the proposal in a speech Wednesday, saying that removing regulatory barriers will help the U.S. remain competitive as countries around the world prepare to roll out the new technology. "The rest of the world is very conscious of our leadership in 4G, and they are questioning whether we will have the resolve to take the deregulatory steps necessary to extend our leadership into 5G," said Carr. "Regulators in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world all want to ensure that their countries lead the way in 5G." Read more here.   TWITTER ADDS BOOKMARK FEATURE: Social media giant Twitter introduced new features on Wednesday, including a bookmark feature that allows users to save tweets to read later. In a video post on the platform Wednesday afternoon, Twitter announced the bookmark feature designed to help users save articles or videos to a private list for later reference. "Found something historic? Don't want to forget a joke? Article that you want to read later? Save the Tweet with Bookmarks, and come back to it whenever you want. Only you can see your Bookmarks," the caption accompanying the video announcement reads. Read more here.   SPOTIFY FILES FOR IPO: Streaming music service Spotify filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, proposing going public with a $1 billion valuation. The company said in its filing that, as of December, it had 159 million monthly active users and 71 million paid subscribers. "Our brand reflects culture -- and occasionally creates it -- by turning vast and intriguing listening data into compelling stories that remind people of the role music plays in their lives and encourages new fans to join Spotify each week," the filing reads. Read more here.   YOUTUBE BANS NEO-NAZI CHANNEL: YouTube has banned the channel of an American neo-Nazi group linked to five killings nationwide for violating hate speech policies. Atomwaffen Division was banned days after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) asked YouTube to remove anti-Semitic videos, according to Motherboard. The video reportedly called for gassing Jews and inciting a "race war." "These videos are not only disgusting racist content that has no place in our society, but they incite hatred against one religious group -- in this case, Jews -- therefore violating YouTube's own Community Guidelines," the ADL said in a statement Tuesday. Read more here.   ON TAP: The Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing on the cybersecurity of the nation's energy infrastructure at 10:00 a.m. The Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting on automated vehicles at 1:00 p.m.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Bloomberg: Amazon, Apple struggle to sit out NRA gun-control debate Reuters: Facebook finds no new evidence Russia interfered in Brexit referendum The Guardian: Bill Gates: Cryptocurrencies have 'caused deaths in a fairly direct way' Op-ed: California's rules on highly automated vehicles set to go live in April     Join The Hill on Wednesday, March 21, for Leadership in Action: The Hill's Newsmaker Series featuring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.). RSVP Here         Did a friend forward you this email? 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