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From what I remember, it's less of an "intense debate" over the political issues themselves, and more "how do we define and serve a world map in a non-political

From what I remember, it's less of an "intense debate" over the political issues themselves, and more "how do we define and serve a world map in a non-political way, in areas of the world where the map itself is political" like Kashmir, Israel/Palestine, and a bunch of other places that most people who don't live there haven't heard of.

senko 5y ago
> areas of the world where the map itself is political That would be everywhere. Even the most boring border in the world is political: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_disputed_by_Canada_and_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_disputed_by_Ca...
- packetslave 5y ago
  Right, hence the team of lawyers and policy people that Google (and presumably Microsoft, Apple, and anyone else who runs a mapping product) pay to figure out how to craft a policy that at least APPEARS non-political.
- The_Colonel 5y ago
  > Even the most boring border in the world US-Canadian border is definitely one of the more intense borders I crossed. And some of the horror stories I heard (e.g. Peter Watts) sound pretty bad. It might be the most boring US border though. Really boring borders can be found in EU/Schengen where you drive by a sign announcing a different country and that's it. There are even more boring (and interesting at the same time) borders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau#/media/File:Baarle-Nassau_fronti%C3%A8re_caf%C3%A9.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau#/media/File:Baar...
dalbasal 5y ago
I'm sure that neutrality is the ideal, and even that the ideal is usually realized. That said, I happen to know how things look inside FB's ME content moderation team^. The israel-palestine conflict is passion provoking, all over the world, in ways that Azerbaijan-Armenia, N. Cyprus or Crimea are not. I suspect that's the case on the maps team too. That said, content moderation tends to employ people who are experts in the region, with academic backgrounds in history, politics and such. They're likely coming in with strong opinions. Cartography may different. ^Safety, or whatever name they use internally.

senko 5y ago

> areas of the world where the map itself is political That would be everywhere. Even the most boring border in the world is political: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_disputed_by_Canada_and_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_disputed_by_Ca...

packetslave 5y ago
Right, hence the team of lawyers and policy people that Google (and presumably Microsoft, Apple, and anyone else who runs a mapping product) pay to figure out how to craft a policy that at least APPEARS non-political.
The_Colonel 5y ago
> Even the most boring border in the world US-Canadian border is definitely one of the more intense borders I crossed. And some of the horror stories I heard (e.g. Peter Watts) sound pretty bad. It might be the most boring US border though. Really boring borders can be found in EU/Schengen where you drive by a sign announcing a different country and that's it. There are even more boring (and interesting at the same time) borders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau#/media/File:Baarle-Nassau_fronti%C3%A8re_caf%C3%A9.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau#/media/File:Baar...

dalbasal 5y ago

I'm sure that neutrality is the ideal, and even that the ideal is usually realized. That said, I happen to know how things look inside FB's ME content moderation team^. The israel-palestine conflict is passion provoking, all over the world, in ways that Azerbaijan-Armenia, N. Cyprus or Crimea are not. I suspect that's the case on the maps team too. That said, content moderation tends to employ people who are experts in the region, with academic backgrounds in history, politics and such. They're likely coming in with strong opinions. Cartography may different. ^Safety, or whatever name they use internally.