this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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Also, report an error to google maps:
It reads: I read "Gulf of America". That must be a mistake.
I can't seem to do this from the phone app
Obviously that's not going to make one iota of difference. They're an American company and they have been ordered by the president of the country to do this. They already do similar things in other authoritarian countries like China and Turkey, because anything else would risk the safety of Google employees.
If you don't like it, change to a non-American product and/or vote for a different president.
I somehow have a feeling that being president of the USA does not mean you can do whatever you want and people have to follow... Google Map, for one, is a product of a private company, not a Federal Service of the USA - so if they want to call it "Gulf of Google", they could!
Then you're right, they already protect/black out places and some places' names, however the Gulf of America, like the Channel of Washington are just bs that in the worst case scenario will live 4 years. So it's a joke and I like joking too
The American president can only order so much. As of yesterday, the BGN has changed the name, but this affects Federal Government usage. Google as a private company could continue to use the common name if they wanted to.
This is why Open Street Maps has a "name" field and "official name" field, for where these two aren't the same. This is already the case for the English names "Saigon" and "Ho Chi Minh City" which refer to the same place in Vietnam.
Well, that's apparently for the courts to decide. In the meantime they have an executive order to contend with. Google has reclassified the U.S. as a "sensitive country" along with other authoritarian regimes and I'm convinced that this is partly out of concern for the safety of Google employees. Who knows what maga cultists might do if they don't comply.
Personally I think that obeying in advance only makes it a riskier place for the employees, but it is not my decision to make.
Regardless, I don't see what issue the courts would have with a private company using the common name of a geographical feature instead of the official government name. That would be a violation of the 1st amendment protection of free speech from government intervention.