'I'm Endorsing It Because I'm A User,' Johnson Said In 2022.

A video from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) promotes an app that allows "accountability partners" to monitor other people's phone and computer use to make sure they're not watching porn on social media.

In an interview about the Louisiana church's "war on technology" in 2022, Johnson said Covenant Eyes is "a program we've been using in our home for a long time."

According to the Covenant Eyes website, this technology “helps you and your loved ones live a porn-free life through transformative responsibility” and has more than 1.5 million users.

“I support this because I am a user,” Johnson said in the old clip. “It costs $15 a month, $16 a month or something like that, and you get 10 devices.”

He added that study groups would use the men's Bible for accountability, but it was also sold to parents of teenagers and he used it with his son Jack, who was 17 at the time.

“He and I get a report once a week about whatever is on our phones or all of our devices,” Johnson said of his son as one of his guardians. "If something unexpected happens, your accountability partner will be notified immediately. I'm proud to say my son is doing well."

The clip sparked many jokes and memes, as well as concerns about the security of the House Speaker's data.

“A US Congressman allows a third-party technology company to scan all of his electronic devices every day and then downloads a report to his child on what he or she did not see...I mean, who else has access to that data?” wrote the user who resurfaced the clip.

“Kelly Johnson’s phone number now”: Another user wrote a fake image of a Covenant Eyes report showing Johnson logged into Grindr.

“This is how DVD stores and adult magazines continue to operate,” another X user wrote.

According to progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Johnson has removed previous Covenant Eyes ads from his page.

The purge follows the removal of a website where Johnson's wife advertised her counseling services, after a HuffPost publication detailing documents on the site comparing homosexuality to bestiality and incest.

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*First published November 6, 2023, at 10:53 CST.

Catherine Huggins

Katherine Huggins is a freelance reporter and New York-based writer for the Daily Dot's Technology and Politics section. He was a PBB Fellow at Japanese newspaper Mainichi and previously wrote for Marketwatch magazine about the 2022 midterm elections. His work has appeared in USA Today, Forbes, OpenSecrets, and other publications.

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