Resurfaced comments in which new House Speaker Mike Johnson talked about how he and his son monitor each other’s online activity using “accountability software” have raised questions about national security.

Johnson, a Republican who was first elected to Congress in 2016, spoke in 2022 about how he installed software called Covenant Eyes on his devices during a panel called “War on Technology” at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana, Rolling Stone reported.

According to a clip first posted on X, formerly Twitter, by a user called Receipt Maven, Johnson spoke about how the subscription-based service helps people abstain from internet porn and “objectionable” websites.

  • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    256
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    I thought this was overblown at first glance but reading into it…

    From Wikipedia:

    Accountability software typically functions by continuously making screenshots of the user’s mobile phone or computer screen and monitoring their internet traffic. It checks both for keywords (such as “gay” or “porn”) and images associated with the behavior the software is intended to detect.

    So like even if the Speaker is on a VPN securely viewing classified material, if it’s on his phone or laptop, Covenant Eyes now has screenshots of it. That is very much a breech of national security if that is happening.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      50
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’m sure there’s no chance that a “Christian-based surveillance company” is mishandling the data they collect in unsecure or nefarious ways.

      • ZeroCool@feddit.ch
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        48
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Fun fact: Before starting his weird anti-porn spyware company the CEO of Covenant Eyes, Ronald DeHaas, worked as a geologist for Chevron in the 70s. In fact, he’s still helping to destroy the planet by working as a consultant for the petroleum industry. He never actually stopped. So he’s always been an unscrupulous P.O.S.

    • BabyWah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      39
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Why always get the gays involved? I swear, these people are obsessed with penises and projecting at this point.

      I mean I’m a straight woman, I watched one video just because I was curious about the practicality of things and was too embarrassed to harass a gay friend about it.

      But when I want to get horny now, it doesn’t even cross my mind. Even though there was one scene with Nick Offerman that was really hot in The Last of Us.

      So major projection from these people.

      • squiblet@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        32
        ·
        1 year ago

        Some Christian men talk about “SSA” (same sex attraction) and their struggle to “resist the temptation”. As a non-repressed straight man, this is not something I’ve ever dealt with. I feel bad that these people are so indoctrinated and intimidated by their weird-ass culture that they can’t just relax and go grab a dick.

        • Poggervania@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          18
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          It’s because Christianity (and by nature, offshoots of it) was, and still is, a means of control.

          Let’s not forget the roots of Christianity was from when it was a literal cult; you were considered a part of the Christian Cult if you practiced Christianity before iirc either Theodosius or Constantine became the Roman Emperor and made it into the state religion. Christmas was also stolen from Sol Invictus as a means to help bridge the transition into Christianity.

          • LemmysMum@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Not to mention the fact that America was founded by puritans who were kicked out of Britain for not being allowed to oppress everyone around them.

          • Pips@lemmy.sdf.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Constantine. Allegedly had a vision/dream where he was told to put either a chi-rho or tau-rho symbol on his shields ahead of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, and after victory he converted, with the rest of the Roman Empire following his lead.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s exactly what it is, a major projection of their own inner sexual turmoil. Whether they are closeted homosexuals or not, and really in the case of Mike Johnson I hope he isn’t because I don’t want him among us LGBTQ folks, they definitely are projecting some hugely enormous interest in the sex behaviors and genitalia of other dudes. As a gay man - I’m kind of in awe of their penchant for penis worship.

        • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          The thing is, being a closeted homosexual isn’t even a binary thing. Everyone’s sexuality is a little bit fluid. I seriously believe that most of these people are bothered by the fact that they don’t find the male form completely repulsive, or by the idea that they may even have romance-adjacent feelings about another man without necessarily wanting to bottom for them.

          These people aren’t closeted, they are just repressed. It’s like living among a group of people who insist that the color orange doesn’t exist and shame anyone who says they can see it. Obviously everyone sees orange, and choosing to live with the cognitive dissonance of orangephobics is incredibly stressful.

          • tygerprints@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            I totally agree, everyone has the capacity for a spectrum of sexual feelings and/or behaviors, but some men never acknowledge that and keep their homo feelings way too oppressed. The concept of having to find men “completely repulsive” for example - what a terrible way to view humanity and have to go through life. They are definitely repressed by their own fears and the phobic society around them. But being gay I have found that it’s so much easier and better than being in the closet, if others don’t like it - that’s their f#ckin problem.

      • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Fear of bigger dicks, I think. The opposite is their obsession with BBCs with white women. Not a psychologist, arm-chair opinion.

    • tygerprints@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      All this monitoring and over monitoring of what people are looking at online. Honestly if people aren’t trolling for underage sex hookups or trying to encourage gross behaviors online, who the hell cares what people look at. Covenant Eyes - that name just says it all about the hypocrisy of religious zealotry. You can be happy! You can be free! Just do what the hell we tell you and don’t you DARE look at anything we don’t approve of, you born sinner and miserable wretch!!! WE’RE WATCHING YOU!!! Because Jesus would want us to.

  • Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    125
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Imagine needing spying accountability software to not watch gay porn. These weird homophobes really are the gayest of them all.

      • thorbot@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, god forbid the hot gayness leap out at unsuspecting homophobes! Better get some STRONG software to keep it at bay, instead of just, you know, just NOT BROWSING PORN SITES

        • dynamojoe@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          1 year ago

          The thing is he’s admitting he has a problem he can’t control. Just not doing a thing is the reasonable approach for people who have self control.

          It also is an admission that the GOP’s preferred solution to temptation is doomed. Just Say No to drugs. Abstinence-only birth control. But he needs to subscribe to a service to keep him from watching porn.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        A lot of gay porn, like much straight porn, is really hot. I’m gay but some straight porn I’ve seen is really incredible. No one will ever convince me that enjoying people having sexual pleasure together is wrong, bad, indecent, immoral, or grotesque (unless it involves watching trump or mike johnson engage in it - which would be my definition of gross indecency).

    • rwhitisissle@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      “We have to ensure that America stays a Christian nation, a righteous nation. And sometimes that means helping to hold each other accountable, like two men holding each other in the bathtub after passionately making love with their fists. This means we need to be vigilant in filtering out all the sinful websites from our web browsers. Websites like twinktube.com, blackdickswhitebussies.com, cockgoblins.com, buttholeinvasion.com, footlongdong.com, and so, so many others.”

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        So why do I feel more fist fucked after being molested by Christian beliefs than I ever feel after tub sex making love with our fists…

    • tygerprints@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      If I weren’t already gay, I’d start watching gay porn just to overload the spying software and get under the skin of the homophobes out there. Really it’s NOBODY ELSE’S GOD DAMN BUSINESS what I watch or look at online. The only other person in the whole universe I’m accountable to besides myself is…NOBODY. I don’t owe anyone else an explanation for anything I look at for any reason at any time.

  • dannoffs@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    43
    ·
    1 year ago

    I grew up in the far right evangelical Christian church and watching people’s horror when they hear little tidbits about how fucked up it is always entertaining to me. I know a bunch of people who use the same software on their computers.

  • jasondj@ttrpg.network
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    42
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    All the fucking cybersecurity bullshit I gotta go to as a network admin for a federal contractor and the baddies can just have some tech illiterate federal representative install whatever back doors they want on their personal computers under the guise of morality or whatever.

    • Cyanogenmon@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      1 year ago

      Hello fellow admin.

      Feel the same way. The most secure network is only as secure as its dumbest user.

      Sadly we’re still a couple hundred years off of that being less of a concern :/.

  • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Wait, this dude is such a deviant he needs to install software on his own devices to keep him away from porn?

    Let me guess, his wife once found gay porn on his computer, and he said he didn’t know anything about it and did the typical conservative “doth protest too much” thing and decided that paying for a porn filter would give him cover to keep looking at porn?

    Do these people really think they are fooling anyone?

  • donuts@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    36
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    So God is a supernatural, omniscient, all-seeing entity that can speak directly into your mind, but you still need to pay a company $20/month to snoop on your devices for “accountability” so that you don’t look at all that very tempting gay porn on the internet.

    Ok…

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      Ah yes, makes total sense. Similarly… The universe stretches to unfathomable distances, countless trillions of stars, and the god of all this … somehow cares whether you jack off to porn or not. Riiiiight.

      • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        Actually, no.

        The universe stretches to unfathomable distances, countless trillions of stars, and the god of all this … somehow cares about you at all.

        This would be like you caring about an ant. I’m not talking about ants in general. I’m talking about you caring about one specific ant, located in one specific anthill, in a cabin in the middle of the woods. In Russia. To the point where you’ve written an entire book on how that ant should be living its life.

          • tygerprints@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Or if they use social media while living in Utah. DAMN THOSE ANTS TO HELL AND BACK AGAIN. Unless they are paying their tithing to the church.

        • tygerprints@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I agree with your definition of god as the unfathomable force that stretches the universe out infinitely in all directions. And possibly that created all of this. But, I don’t believe such a thing is an entity with any feelings. I believe the tangible manifestation of such an entity is in everything that results from it, in all the rocks and pebbles and grains of sand and blades of grass that occur as a result. And thus to me, every ant is valuable and sacred. But not because that entity cares what I do - because that ant is a piece of something much more important and brilliant out there.

      • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Look, God created Mike Johnson in their own image, and that image is a man who has a healthy obsession with girthy, throbbing cocks. Sometimes more than one. Usually more than one.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        I doubt God cares where people put their penises or direct their keyboard searches. If such a god is out there - I can’t imagine anything less likely to consume his/her/its attention than what people do sexually or what they enjoy watching. Even if it is something we humans deem morally wrong - I doubt he/she/it really gives a godly $hit about it all.

  • Yewb@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    33
    ·
    1 year ago

    Does he so desperately want to look at porn that he needs this? How about will power?

    Who the fuck are these people.

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    32
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    It’s one thing if you want to subject your personal/private online life to a sort of virtual panopticon, but if you want to also look at classified material while also letting your morality cops peep over your shoulder, that should be disqualifying. Under no circumstance should a device with spyware on it have access to anything like classified material

    • rosymind@leminal.space
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      1 year ago

      Agreed. What also bothers me is that he admitted to having his 17 year old son be his accountability partner. He really couldn’t find anyone else? It had to be his underage son? That’s weird, yo

  • nymwit@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    31
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    This dude is super creepy and I hate he’s in congress, much less the speaker, but does anyone feel like the other headline “monitors each others porn activities” purposely makes it seem like they’re each reviewing the porn they each do look at and making sure isn’t toooo skeevy? Like it’s weird enough, do you have to push it?

    Made me picture them high fiving each other the next day, “yeah buddy! I saw that one, too. Nice.”

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      1 year ago

      I think the headline’s intent is more “what did he get caught doing which prompted the need for him to buy a porn blocker for his own machine?”

      Like, nobody in the world does that unless someone caught them looking at porn.

      • CalicoJack@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        1 year ago

        “Does he have weird third-party monitoring software on his government phone?” is what the headline is referencing, that’s a massive problem. Confidential info could end up who-knows-where if it was sniffed.

    • Peppycito@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      makes it seem like they’re each reviewing the porn they each do look at and making sure isn’t toooo skeevy?

      Yes. But probably because I look at porn, I would take it to mean I’m telling my friends what porn I’m looking at. Whereas they are doing it to show each other that they’re not looking at any porn at all.

  • _number8_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    this shit is so fucking creepy and insane. if literal receipts about the porn i look at came up in a family conversation for any reason whatsoever my brain would melt and explode. how are these freaks so outwardly successful but behind closed doors they’re spying on their son’s porn viewing??

    how does this motherfucker do speaking tours with these blood curdling weird christians and become like the 4th most powerful person in government? why do we keep respecting people who can’t even jerk off like an adult? we used to be a proper country! we used to do rebellions!

    he doesn’t even have any particular juice or charisma! he’s just white and clean shaven and wears a button down! give him the fucking keys to congress! jesus fucking christ

    • rchive@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I mean, the point of it is to deter you from looking at porn in the first place.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Which is like trying to keep the ocean from the shore using a toothpick. Men will always seek out porn even if they have to draw it themselves. It’s actually healthy for us and it’s also quite important to us in other ways.

  • tygerprints@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s bad enough living in Utah where you’re expected to “live the word of the Covenant” every day or be damned. People showing up at our doors to ask what we’re looking at online to make sure we’re living the word of Jesus. Jesus! For Christ’s sake, what do I care about jesus!!! Can you imagine anything more horrible than having to be monitored by someone else who thinks you’re not up to the “lord’s” standards!!!

    To HELL with that nonsense. It’s one reason I’m not just non-religious but actively anti-Mormon. Oh sure these mormon assholes think they’re made of sunshine and Jesus’ farts, but in reality they’re just as sleazy, bent, evil, contemptible, and manipulative as anyone else. Moreso in fact. People are not “saints.” They aren’t supposed to be. And no well-adjusted mentally healthy person would ever WANT to be. So to hell with this monitoring each other bullshit.

    • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      People showing up at our doors to ask what we’re looking at online to make sure we’re living the word of Jesus.

      What? That’s not really happening is it?

      • meyotch@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        1 year ago

        It definitely happens in Utah. The social rules are very different behind the Zion Curtain

        • tygerprints@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          And if you go against the church, they have the records to stack the law against you, ruin your credit rating, and put you in the slammer. You don’t dare not be mormon, or EVER say anything but “Oh I’m so happy to live here, everything is perfect here in Happy valley!”

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’m in America and have never witnessed people going door to door asking to check your Internet history!

            • tygerprints@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Come to Utah and see how extreme Christian fundamentalism can get. They make the Nazis look like friendly hippies by comparison.

          • tygerprints@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Have you lived in Utah? Here we aren’t even allowed access to porn sites and now they’re shutting down access to most social media sites also. “It’s harming our youth,” the scream. And yet, so far, they’ve never actually asked any youth how they feel about using those sites or if they feel harmed by them.

            But then again, in Utah conservative republicanism is the ONLY political party that exists. There is no “democrat” option, you can’t register to vote unless you register as a republican. And the mormon church DOES monitor what you do and what you say. You go against the church here, they will utterly ruin your life as they are in control of all the media and all the banks and news outlets.

            • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              1 year ago

              Have you lived in Utah?

              Nope, I’m in Wyoming. We have lots of Mormons but they haven’t, as of yet, taken the place over.

              Here we aren’t even allowed access to porn sites and now they’re shutting down access to most social media sites also.

              That seems like a bit of an over statement. My understanding is that you CAN access porn sites but that an age verification requirement will go into effect next year. Same with Social Media stuff, minors can still get access but they’ve got to get parental permission. To be clear I don’t agree with either of these but it’s not like Utah is rebuilding the Great Firewall of China and clipping access completely.

              There is no “democrat” option, you can’t register to vote unless you register as a republican.

              Now hold on a minute. That CANNOT be true, Utah not only has an official Democratic Party but there’s Legislators who belong to it!

              You go against the church here, they will utterly ruin your life as they are in control of all the media and all the banks and news outlets.

              I’ve heard that one before and don’t doubt that it’s true.

              • tygerprints@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                If you live in Wyoming - well, that’s cool, but it’s such a conservative state also, it’s another place with restrictive laws. Yes Utah has an official democratic party, true - but good luck finding it. One member on the Legislature - that’s like one drop of purity in an ocean of putrification. Might as well not even be there. It sucks wanting to have more democratic representation here. However I do appreciate your feedback!

        • tygerprints@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Exactly. You’re free, but only so long as you follow our model of what freedom is - don’t go around looking for your own answers or reading books. That’s the devil’s ding-dong diddley a-doins.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Well it’s close to it. They don’t actually come look at what we’re browsing, but missionaries show up and ask if we’re making sure we’re doing the “lord’s work” on our computers. I usually say yes - the lord wants me to be searching for gay porn, it’s what Jesus would want. (I’ve never said that but I certainly would love to).

        • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          but missionaries show up and ask if we’re making sure we’re doing the “lord’s work” on our computers.

          I’m so glad I don’t live in Utah.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 year ago

        You’ve no idea what’s it’s like. Remember the movie “Stepford Wives?” Everyone has a placid “everything is fine” look on their face because the church demands it here - conform, or suffer the consequences. I’ve seen so many lives destroyed by the mormons. They framed a mormon friend of mine over some joke he made, they turned him into the police as a child molester (because his wife does operate a child care center) and they trumped up charges, and took his property away from him. Yet in court he was found absolutely not guilty of any wrong doing - yet by then, his life was utterly ruined. You think Mormons are Saints? Guess again.

          • tygerprints@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            The courts and the HOAs are run by mormons. So is the boy scouts, and girl scouts. And almost all social systems. It’s like being in a prison with walls everywhere you turn. You really have to live here to see how frightening it is.

            So you may ask why I don’t leave - it’s because my elderly parent is here and I’m the only child dumb enough to stay in Utah and take care of her. She’s not moveable due to medical problems. I will not discuss my future plans here because I’m sure they do watch what I type and say online. But it’s pretty impossible to get out of Utah once you’re part of it.

            • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              I wouldnt ever ask that because I have intimately experience similar but nowhere near as bad (altho still highly damaging).

              This is what scares me so much about this obsession with “private” schools and homeschooling: shithead parents so badly wanna sexually and ideologically abuse their children with zero input from society or accountabillity:

              • tygerprints@kbin.social
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                That is SO true. That’s my objection to us taxpayers in Utah being forced to fund vouchers for private schooling. These home schools and private schools are just overzealous religious cults wanting to harm kids with their own brand of religious indoctrination. Shithead parents indeed. And they want their kids to grow up with the same shitheaded bigoted outlook.

    • rchive@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Just like random neighbors doing random checkups on people, or like they know somehow what you’re looking at and are confronting you about it? Those are pretty different.

      • tygerprints@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        We’ve had mormon missionaries come to our door and insinuate that they know whether we’re doing the lord’s work or not and that they can have us jailed just on suspicion of not doing the lord’s work alone.

  • Evotech@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you need to buy a 200usd/year service to make sure you don’t look at gay porn you are definitely not gay

    • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Sounds like you’re just sitting there with all that gay porn that could be freely browsed at anytime. You sure you’re not the gay one? With all that hot, sweaty gay porn that is only a click away. The temptation waking you in the middle of the night. Stopping the blood from rushing to your penis every time you think about it.

      God you’re gay.

  • m3t00🌎@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    don’t believe government devices will let him install that crap. may be wrong but I’ve read they lock them down pretty tight. his own stuff is his problem