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Google Maps blocks Gulf of America reviews after rename criticism
- jeanlucas 2y agoThis is curious that people are behaving like this, but I don't see it as "tech related" issue, Google (and any company) need to comply with whatever thing their country decides. Objectively speaking, the reviews are not related to the geographical point.
- jajko 2y agoDoes it have to immediately comply? I see no reason, ie if Xi decided to rename Uighur-majority places into say Han-style names, or same for Tibet. Google is not official government branch, I see no reason to be forced immediately to act upon such decisions. What I see is desperate attempt of all those previously-admired big CEOs to try to please emotional and vengeful head of current administration however they can, including official bribes. Maybe I have incorrect viewing lens or logic, but it certainly looks from outside that way.
- eloisius 2y agoGoogle doesn’t operate in China but if they did, they would have to comply with Chinese law. For example, iPhones in China don’t have a Taiwanese flag emoji.
- foobarchu 2y agoThey would, but we're not discussing laws. Nobody has made a law changing the name of the Gulf.
- SpicyLemonZest 2y agoI don't think Xinjiang or Tibet are helpful analogies. India recently changed a city's name from Allahabad to Prayagraj; should Google have carefully analyzed the circumstances behind this name change and rejected it if they feel the process was too silly or too Hindutva?
- simion314 2y ago>This is curious that people are behaving like this, but I don't see it as "tech related" issue, Google (and any company) need to comply with whatever thing their country decides. They also pushed the update outside Trumpland, >The name would remain unchanged in Mexico and the rest of the world would see "Gulf of America" added next to its current name in brackets, Google added.
- reaperducer 2y agoThey also pushed the update outside Trumpland, >The name would remain unchanged in Mexico and the rest of the world would see "Gulf of America" added next to its current name in brackets, Google added. Can confirm. Just tried it from Albania.
- bananapub 2y ago[flagged]
- JohnFen 2y ago> Google (and any company) need to comply with whatever thing their country decides. There's no law requiring Google to do this. They're choosing to.
- cantrecallmypwd 2y agoExactly. They're obeying in advance.
- nickthegreek 2y agoIn advance of what?
- intermerda 2y agohttps://scholars.org/contribution/twenty-lessons-fighting-tyranny-twentieth https://scholars.org/contribution/twenty-lessons-fighting-ty... > Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
- jeanlucas 2y agoIndeed, there's no law. But if you wanna make business in a certain country it is kinda expected and their normal behavior. Mind here, this is not just google. Hence why all big tech overnight switched from "woke" to "anti woke" despite this having zero impact on their products, it is just sinaligning to the new chief. And this behavior happens in every country they operate as well, of course since they are American companies (with stocks in the American market) this is much more pronounced in the US.
- Gerardo1 2y ago"Google gives government back-door to all user data so that government can find dissidents" "Google needs to comply with whatever their country decides" If companies can have political opinions, and influence the government directly, then they can be held to a moral standard, as can the individuals responsible for making decisions and taking actions for the company.
- jeanlucas 2y agoThat's the thing, I think it is terrible, but companies are extensions of the government. They do those things so they can keep getting the sweet sweet tax deals and government contracts. I am aware there's no law, but I think most replies missed this point. It's not about there being a law, but what is implied if they don't get in line. Just like how all big techs are "anti woke" now whatever that means.
- nickthegreek 2y agoNo one is forced to comply with word games from the government in the USA. We actually have a whole amendment about it.
- mrgoldenbrown 2y agoWhat law are they complying with here? They aren't required to cater to Trump's whims, they are choosing to.
- jeanlucas 2y agoNo law, although my original comment could be interpreted as what the law says, I meant what the acting government decides so they can "show good will" and make things easier when negotiating tax breaks and government contracts. If there was a law then there would be no discussion, companies definitely can't break laws. But this is about "falling in line" to get in the good sides of the current administration in this particular country. As it always has been in any place. Check whatever Google/Meta/X/others do in several different countries on things that are not law, but it is implied that they should do whatever they are asked or else.
- starfezzy 2y agoIgnoring the bombasticism of certain individuals, Gulf of America seems like a reasonable name. The shores are roughly 50% not-Mexico, and both countries are America. This is progressivism.
- suddenlybananas 2y agoBit weird to rename something after 400 years for purely nationalistic reasons though. Maybe Mexicans will be up for it though if Americans accept being called Unitedstatesians in English.
- chank 2y agoSalient point, the US is the only American country with America in it's actual name. Names of things change. It's how language works. Even though I think Gulf of America is actually more apt a name, I and most people in the US could care less what it's called. It's just Trump playing power games like China does with the "South China Sea" v. "Sea of Japan".
- orwin 2y agoJust call them USians. When I say 'americans' I often talk about north Americans, I use USians to disambiguate.
- sadeshmukh 2y agoI have never heard American refer to anything but a United States resident, so I seriously doubt you. USian is disrespectful to the preferred demonym, if you do care about that.
- api_or_ipa 2y agoPedantically, the formal name of Mexico is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or United States (of) Mexico. USians would then be ambiguous.
- starfezzy 2y agoThe name is now finally NOT centered around one nation. Plus, it's the opposite of weird. National reasons are the most frequent cause for renaming areas after hundreds of years. Additionally, the order doesn't change the name of any gulf along Mexico's Eastern shoreline. So whether they're "up for it" is inconsequential.
- Neywiny 2y agoSadly typical for Google. They have a long history of removing opposing voices instead of listening. Notable examples are YouTube removing dislikes, forcing old videos into shorts, and allowing disabling of comments. Also Google play removing review bombs when developers release junky updates that break the app. It's a borderline parasocial relationship people have thinking that such a megacorp gives 2 hoots about such a captive audience.
- jcfrei 2y agoInserting standard Google quote here: If you're not paying for a product, you are the product. Google is taking care of their actual customers (btw. that includes US Government): Businesses who pay to have an entry on Google Maps, youtubers who bring in ad revenue, app developers who drive google play revenue, etc.
- Neywiny 2y agoYep. So considering I've never bought anything from Google directly (even my current phone, a pixel, was free from my carrier), they have no reason to care about my disgruntlement. Not like there's a Maps Pro or anything.
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]
- jonstewart 2y agoAh, gotta hand it to Googlers, diligently organizing the world’s misinformation so long as the RSU handouts are generous.
- unyttigfjelltol 2y agoGoogle is not a nation state and does not dictate geographical boundaries or names. Are you saying Mexico's preferences are superior to those of the US? Or that Google may disregard orders of a democratically-elected leader? Map makers always are in a tough spot when nations disagree about the places and landforms they are depicting.
- bananapub 2y agowhat on earth are you talking about? of course Google can call it whatever it wants > Google may disregard orders of a democratically-elected leader? what? random companies need to comply with press releases from politicians now? does this apply to all politicians and press releases? or just ones from people who have a proven record of asking for very stupid things and enacting very dumb punishments on people they feel haven't respected said stupid things?
- unyttigfjelltol 2y ago> random companies need to comply with press releases from politicians now? You are misinformed. This was not a "press release", it was an executive order. [1] Google naturally has some expressive latitude, but that's constrained by legal, diplomatic, social, contractual and political considerations that all map makers have when they balance what they might personally feel is a nice boundary or place name, versus the legally-protected designations of sovereign nations and their governments. [1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/gulf-of-america-day-2025/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/gulf...
- JohnFen 2y agoExecutive orders only apply to the executive branch activities. They aren't law that everyone has to follow.
- rzzzwilson 2y agoThe "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)" label doesn't follow the previous standard of giving just one name to a map feature. For example, just "Gulf of America" in the USA and "Gulf of Mexico" elsewhere. After all, Maps doesn't use "English Channel (La Manche)" does it?
- jsnell 2y agoThat's not the previous standard. Here's a counter-example: zoom to Falkland Islands as an English-language user, and you'll likely see "Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)" as the name. (Unless you're in the UK or Argentina, I suspect.) The English Channel example isn't really relevant. Those are just two names in different languages. France is not insisting that La Manche is the official name of the English Channel in all languages.
- mr_mitm 2y agoIt does for disputed names. Look at the Persian gulf, for example. I'm in Germany and it says "Persian gulf (Arabian Gulf)".
- ImJamal 2y agoThat is not the standard? Google changes names of places based on where you live and they even change borders!
- dlcarrier 2y agoLots of locations have completely unrelated names in different languages. For example Germany is something like Dutch Land in most Germanic languages and Alemania in most Latin languages.
- xnx 2y agoCriticism of Google acting reasonably is meant to deflect from the administration acting insanely. Don't take the bait.
- thisisnotauser 2y agoReasonable! However, Google is made up of people who are actively choosing to comply with nonsense. Perhaps it is in fact better to hold people to a standard of behavior than to pretend those people are somehow exempt from sanity or morality simply because they work for a company. Today the nonsense is silly, perhaps tomorrow it is less silly. I do not object to renaming the Gulf of America because I do not live in it, but there are a lot of silly things the administration could decide Google needs to do that could be very bad for me and others.
- SpicyLemonZest 2y agoI completely agree with the concern. But it seems to me that promoting a standard of behavior requiring people to object to silly things that don't matter makes it more likely, not less, that they'll end up complying with the things that do matter. "I'm not living up to this standard anyway, and I have what I think are good reasons for that, so is it really the right standard?"
- chrisjj 2y agoBait? They confiscated the whole fishing rod.
- jmclnx 2y agoThe renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, or any well known place is something directly from the Dictator's Handbook. If there is any question on how Trump wants to run the US, this proves he will ignore the Courts, Congress and US Constitution. Already he has broken so many laws any other president would be going through an impeachment right now.
- cantrecallmypwd 2y agoMy 2025-2028 bingo card just needs 47's face on Mt. Rushmore, renaming Wednesday, and starting a ground war Switzerland.
- basementcat 2y agoOne of your three remaining bingo spaces is in committee. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/792 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/792
- reaperducer 2y agoThe renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, or any well known place is something directly from the Dictator's Handbook. Up next: Renaming the 47th state "New America."
- ChrisArchitect 2y agoEarlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43035013 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43035013
- chrisjj 2y agoBut no mention of review blocks there.
- roshin 2y agoI was thinking about the naming saga, and my conclusion was that the Gulf of America is actually less American centric. Think about how Americans refer to the southern border as the Mexican border, while the Mexicans refer to it as the American border. As an American, when I hear the Gulf of Mexico, I know that it is south of America. When I hear Gulf of America, I just know it is somewhere around America.
- roshin 2y agoWhen the country Turkey wanted to be renamed something that I can't even type with a Latin keyboard, people seemed to go along with it. Now, largely the same people who were fine with Turkey's rename have issues with this.