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Google takes heat over 'Gulf of America' change

13 28
14.02.2025
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Google takes heat from Mexico over 'Gulf of America' change

Mexico threatened to sue the tech giant over the decision to update its maps system to reflect President Trump's order renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" as the "Gulf of America."

© Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum argued at her daily press conference Thursday that Google is incorrect in renaming the entire body of water as the Gulf of America because Trump’s executive order only applies to the U.S. continental shelf.

She warned that the Mexican government may bring a civil suit against the tech giant if necessary.

“Who we have a dispute with is Google,” Sheinbaum said, according to a translation from Bloomberg. “If they keep insisting, we’ll consider a lawsuit.”

Google Maps announced Monday it had updated the name of the body of water to the Gulf of America for its U.S. users after the U.S. Geographic Names Information System made the change official.

Users in Mexico will continue to see the name as Gulf of Mexico, while those elsewhere in the world will see both names written as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”

Apple Maps and Bing Maps have also updated their systems to reflect the change.

Sheinbaum sent a letter to Google last month after it signaled plans to change the name of the body of water.

“To change the name of an international sea, it is not a country that changes it. It is an international organization that does this,” she said at the time, according to a translation by Al Jazeera.

Trump signed an executive order renaming the gulf on his first day in office. The Department of the Interior announced days later that “the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America.”

It noted that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was working to update the name in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.

Shortly after, Google said it would make the change once it was officially updated in the database for geographic names.

The Encyclopedia Britannica said Wednesday it will continue to use the name Gulf of Mexico, noting the gulf “is an international body of water, and the U.S.’s authority to rename it is ambiguous.” The decision earned praise from Sheinbaum on Thursday.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

 

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