Media mock Mike Johnson for using porn accountability software with son: 'creepy'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., (L) celebrates with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., as the House of Representatives holds an election for a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on October 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C. After a contentious nominating period that has seen four candidates over a three-week period, the House GOP conference selected Johnson as their most recent nominee to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted on October 4 in a move led by a small group of conservative members of his own party.
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., (L) celebrates with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., as the House of Representatives holds an election for a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on October 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C. After a contentious nominating period that has seen four candidates over a three-week period, the House GOP conference selected Johnson as their most recent nominee to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted on October 4 in a move led by a small group of conservative members of his own party. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been taking flak from some corporate media outlets for having used an accountability software to prevent himself and his teenage son from watching pornography.

Johnson, a member of Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana, explained to members of the congregation in 2022 during a panel about technology how both he and his teenage son at the time were using Covenant Eyes, a subscription-based software that can be downloaded on computers and mobile devices to monitor websites and alert an accountability partner to any questionable content.

"It sends a report to your accountability partner," Johnson explained in the clip that went viral on X after being shared by a user called Receipt Maven. "My accountability partner right now is Jack, my son. He’s 17. So he and I get a report about all the things that are on our phones, all of our devices, once a week."

"If anything objectionable comes up, your accountability partner gets an immediate notice. I’m proud to tell you, my son has got a clean slate," Johnson continued. "It’s really sensitive, it’ll pick up almost anything, it looks for keywords, search terms, and also images, and it will send your accountability partner a blurred picture of the image."

Rolling Stone wrote about the unearthed clip in a Sunday article titled "Mike Johnson Admits He and His Son Monitor Each Other’s Porn Intake in Resurfaced Video." The outlet suggested Johnson's use of the accountability software with his son was "creepy."

"Outside of the creepy Big Brother-ness of it all, Receipt Maven also aired concerns about whether Covenant Eyes — which is still a working subscription-based service — might 'compromise' Johnson’s devices, if he’s still actively seeking accountability," the outlet wrote.

Other outlets followed suit, such as The New Republic, which suggested Johnson has "unusual porn habits."

"Mike Johnson has not even been House Speaker for a full two weeks, but we've managed to learn a tremendous amount about him—most of which could be charitably described as extremely not good," a writer for Vanity Fair wrote. "This weekend, though, brought a new category of details about the congressional leader, the response to which has been: WTF?"

A spokesperson for Johnson told The Christian Post, “This is just the latest attack in a campaign by D.C. insiders on Speaker Johnson’s faith." 

Business Insider piled on, noting that former reality TV star Josh Duggar, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2021, also used Covenant Eyes.

Some on social media came to Johnson's defense, such as author Daniel Friedman, who blasted Rolling Stone as "a dishonest publication" for its article about Johnson.

"What he actually said is that he installed accountability software on his son's devices to keep his son from using porn, and he put the same software on his own devices to show his son he wasn't using porn either," Friedman wrote on X.

Covenant Eyes was founded in 2000 and claims to have helped more than 1.5 million users in their quests for "victory over porn" by implementing software that renders it nearly impossible for users to exploit loopholes to watch pornography undetected.

The software was a subject of a WIRED article last year that raised concerns regarding the privacy issues surrounding accountability apps and their potential long-term negative effects on users.

Covenant Eyes spokesperson Dan Armstrong told The Christian Post in a statement at the time that the company shares "many of the concerns raised" in the WIRED article and that "spying on people is damaging and counterproductive."

"Our usage policy explicitly prohibits using Covenant Eyes to monitor someone without their authorization," Armstrong said. "We do not allow spouses to use Covenant Eyes to spy on one another or employers to secretly monitor employees."

Since House Republicans unanimously elected him to the gavel on Oct. 25, Johnson has been attacked in the media for his outspoken Christian beliefs. He told Fox News co-host Kayleigh McEnany last week that the attacks against him  — such as MSNBC host Jen Psaki calling him a "fundamentalist," HBO host Bill Maher comparing him to the Maine shooter, or a Daily Beast op-ed likening him to the Taliban — are "disgusting" and "absurd."

Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com

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