Tánaiste Mícheál Martin has said he wants to identify who was behind false ads linking him to a cryptocurrency scam in order to hold them legally responsible for publishing deliberately misleading information and to deter others from spreading misinformation.
Lawyers for Mr Martin told the High Court the issues involved were very serious for him, on a personal and on a political level.
The court was also told such misinformation had the potential to erode trust in the political system and disrupt and disfigure public life in the State.
They were granted an order allowing them to serve notice on Google Ireland and Google LLC that Mr Martin intends to seek orders from the court compelling them to provide information about those who placed the ads and how they were paid for.
The matter will be back in court next week.
Senior Counsel Padraic Lyons told the court the ads, which appeared on the websites of a number of national newspapers, were false and deceptive and made very serious allegations of impropriety and wrongdoing against Mr Martin.
They were removed by Google after a complaint by Fianna Fáil due to what the company described as "egregious policy violations".
Google said the ads were part of a global trend of "scammy bad actors" trying to deceive users by enticing them to click into an ad by using popular figures, provocative text or content. But the company said it could not provide information about the origin of the ads without a court order.
The ads were accompanied by a fake newspaper article and linked to what Mr Martin said in a sworn document, appeared to be a fraudulent, unauthrorised and unregulated scheme designed to target vulnerable people with little or no knowledge of cryptocurrency or financial trading.
They suggested Mr Martin was endorsing a cryptocurrency auto trading program which could "transform anyone into a millionaire within three to four months."
They claimed he was making "tens of thousands" of euro every day "on autopilot" and was being threatened by big financial corporations because he had been sharing this secret.
Mr Martin's lawyers said Google's involvement was clear, even if it was unwitting and unintentional. The ads were submitted to Google Ads, which facilitated and arranged for their display on prominent Irish websites.
Mr Lyons was asked by Mr Justice Mark Sanfey why the ads had been brought to Google’s attention in early August but the matter had only now come to court.
He outlined the interaction between Mr Martin's solictors, Ardagh McCabe, and solicitors for Google. And he said Mr Martin had had an unusually heavy series of engagements abroad last month, making it difficult to swear an affidavit.
Mr Lyons said the issues at play were very serious for his client on a personal and a political level and warranted close attention.
In his affidavit, the Tánaiste said he was "most disquieted" by the apparent increase in the online publication of disinformation and deceptive material relating to public and political figures in the State.
Mr Martin said he was very concerned about the specific damage to his reputation. But he also had a broader concern that the publication of misleading online content relating to politicians by anonymous people - whether prompted by nefarious political or financial motives, had the potential to erode trust in the political system and disrupt and disfigure public life in the State.
He said there was a strong public interest in facilitating his attempt to identify the wrong doers and hold them legally responsible as well as deterring further attempts at spreading misinformation by those who believed their anonymity protected them from legal consequences.
He wants Google to provide information about the origin of the ads and financial details of the accounts used to pay for them.
His lawyers were given permission to notify Google and the matter will be back in court next Thursday.
