{"id":404909,"date":"2026-04-18T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404909\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T09:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:48:08","slug":"bogus-complaints-see-irish-times-articles-solicitors-videos-on-rob-heneghan-delisted-by-google-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404909\/","title":{"rendered":"Bogus complaints see Irish Times articles, solicitor\u2019s videos on Rob Heneghan delisted by Google \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bogus copyright complaints have led to Irish Times news articles and videos posted by a solicitor that all referred to a high-profile betting<\/a> tipster being delisted from Google<\/a> and scrubbed from social media<\/a> sites. <\/p>\n

The Irish Times news articles relating to Rob Heneghan<\/a>, who runs Pro Sports Advice, a subscription-based betting advice business, were removed from Google search results earlier this month following bogus copyright complaints that were in some cases made from southeast Asia. <\/p>\n

Separately, Terry Gorry<\/a>, a solicitor who has made videos about legal cases for 15 years, said he had three social media accounts across Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and TikTok<\/a> disabled after bogus copyright complaints were made about videos he made about a legal case that Heneghan has taken. <\/p>\n

In all cases it is not clear who made the bogus copyright complaints but the Lumen database that catalogues takedown requests shows that some of the complaints were from Vietnam<\/a> and Indonesia<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The articles removed from Google search results include court reports from The Irish Times and other media on a High Court<\/a> defamation action that Heneghan brought against Gearoid Norris, an online racing pundit. Norris apologised to Heneghan in court on Friday and undertook not to publish any further material online about Heneghan or Pro Sports Advice.<\/p>\n

Other articles from The Irish Times that revealed how Heneghan had promoted a black-market gambling website that claimed to be regulated in Anjouan have also been delisted following bogus copyright complaints.<\/p>\n

Articles removed from Google search results<\/p>\n

\"hmgamblingcomoros\"File photograph: iStock <\/p>\n

The Comoros Central Bank, which oversees financial regulation in Anjouan, has said that Gambana, a site promoted by Heneghan to his followers earlier this year, was using a \u201cfraudulent\u201d licence. <\/p>\n

A number of the bogus complaints that led to the delisting of Irish Times news stories focusing on Gambana\u2019s promotion by Heneghan alleged they breached the copyright of New York Post articles from the 1990s. One of those articles was about the New York Giants American football team while another was about crime in New York. <\/p>\n

Google has said it has since restored some of the stories to its search results but many of them are still not visible when searched for from Ireland. <\/p>\n

Gorry, a Meath-based solicitor, had his Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts locked down earlier this month following bogus copyright complaints made by unknown parties, some in Vietnam. <\/p>\n

Gorry discovered the complaints related to two videos he made about Heneghan\u2019s legal action. <\/p>\n

Gorry said he was able to get his Facebook and Instagram accounts restored by following Meta\u2019s internal appeal procedures to show he had not breached any trademarks or copyright. <\/p>\n

However, he said he had to send a legal letter to TikTok in Dublin threatening to take a High Court injunction case before his TikTok account, which has 87,000 followers, was restored. <\/p>\n

Gorry said in the 15 years of making videos about legal cases he had never had his accounts targeted like this and disabled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI looked into this and believe someone is using some sort of tool to automatically scan everything on the web and then use AI (artificial intelligence) to generate a complaint against that page or account,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Gorry said his videos generate a huge amount of business for his firm. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have a practice without it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s frightening that an account I\u2019ve worked to build up so many followers on TikTok can just be taken out like that.\u201d <\/p>\n

A Google spokesman said: \u201cWe actively fight fraudulent takedown attempts by using a combination of automated and human review to detect signals of abuse, including identifying tactics that are well-known to us like backdating. We provide extensive transparency and submit notices to Lumen about these removals to hold requesters accountable, and sites can file counter notifications for us to re-review if they believe content has been removed from our results in error.\u201d <\/p>\n

TikTok was approached for comment. Heneghan was also approached for comment. <\/p>\n