Mike Johnson said he and his 17-year-old son use an app that alerts each other if they look at porn
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
- Newly-resurfaced footage shows House Speaker Mike Johnson touting an app called "Covenant Eyes."
- The app discourages porn use by alerting an "accountability partner" — in this case his son.
- It's also been used by former NBA star Lamar Odom.
Recently-unearthed footage shows Mike Johnson, now the Speaker of the House, promoting an app that enables "accountability" between him and his son over any porn use.
"Covenant Eyes is the software that we've been using a long time in our household," he said. The footage appears to be from an event titled "War on Technology" at Benton, Louisiana's Cypress Baptist Church, where Johnson was billed as a speaker in October 2022.
The clip was found by X user @receiptmaven, who suggested that Johnson had since tried "scrub" it from his feeds.
COMPROMISE ALERT: Speaker Mike Johnson uses software Covenant Eyes (learned about at a Promise Keepers retreat) that scans all his electronic devices & gives a weekly report an "accountability partner" his 17 yr old son (so basically don't watch porn or your son/dad will know????) pic.twitter.com/SSWpB9IIDB
— Receipt Maven (@receiptmaven) October 31, 2023
Insider couldn't locate a source for the footage other than @receiptmaven's post.
Johnson described the app as an opt-in service that "scans all the activity on your phone, or your devices, laptop, tablet, what have you. We do all of it. And then it sends a report to your accountability partner."
An accountability partner is a term, often used by evangelicals but also in many wellness circles, for someone who checks in and ensures you are sticking to your goals.
In this case, it's his 17-year-old son, Johnson said. "So he and I get a report of all the things that are on our phones or devices once a week. If anything objectionable comes up, your accountability partner gets an immediate notice.
"I'm proud to tell you my son's got a clean slate," he said. He didn't mention whether he had lapsed himself.
The app scans keywords and images and flags anything of "concern", he said, noting one time it erroneously flagged "a blurred image of two women."
They turned out to be "two middle-aged teachers," he said, by way of illustrating the software's apparent sensitivity.
Johnson didn't directly mention porn, but the app's social feeds — as well as other marketing — make it abundantly clear that warding people off X-rated content is its sole purpose.
In 2022, a Wired investigation of Covenant Eyes' inner workings found significant privacy concerns, resulting in the app's removal from the Google Play store. At the time of writing, the app is available on the store once more, suggesting it now meets Google policies.
Johnson isn't the first high-profile user of the service: Former NBA star Lamar Odom said in 2019 that he used it to help with his addiction to porn.
The newly-minted Speaker's conservative Christian leanings appear to be a major influence in his political stances, attracting multiple headlines in recent weeks.
Johnson has spoken disparagingly (and inaccurately) about homosexuality, supports stringent conditions for divorce, and once lobbied for a creationist museum that says dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark.
Johnson said he wasn't making any money off the Covenant Eyes app, saying: "I'm endorsing it because I'm a user." His office did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.