STOLEN CREDIT CARDS were used to  pay for fake ads about Micheál Martin which originated in Russia and Belarus, the Tánaiste has said.

Speaking to reporters about the new Defamation (Amendment) Bill, Martin said the law will make it “easier and less costly” for the public to tackle online defamation and uncover who is posting defamatory comments anonymously. 

The Tánaiste had to obtained records from Google through High Court proceedings after ads appeared which suggested that Martin was endorsing cryptocurrency companies.

Asked about the matter, he said today: “I’ve been subjected to such online advertisements and fake ads and so on and it strikes me as extraordinarily challenging for individual citizens to seek the identity of such online defamers.”

“The fake ads seem to have originated from jurisdictions in Belarus and Russia.

“It seems that stolen credit cards were used to pay for the ads,” he added. 

“Notwithstanding the fact that we’ve received a High Court order, I’ve written again to Google in respect of the ads that appeared on Google to get further clarity on the steps it intends to take because there seems to be a model of revenue generation here that’s unacceptable in terms of the proper application of the rule of law,” he said. 

Martin said he has had to employ forensic specialists to through the enormous amount of documentation from Google.

Asked if his criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a factor in being targeted, Martin said he did not know and could not make a definitive comment on the matter.

“We’ve had far less cooperation from X (formerly Twitter), who had a whole series of fake ads in respect of my good self and others in the midst of the local elections and advance of the referenda,” he added. 

The Tánaiste said fake ads are a serious issue particularly as it could undermine democracy in the middle of election campaigns.

If the ads get more refined in terms of how they’re presented, they could cause difficulty and could undermine people’s reputations in the middle of an election campaign, Martin said.