Google Maps labels US as ‘sensitive’ after Trump requires new names: Report

LAUREN TAYLOR: On the same day that Google said it would rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps, the company’s maps division also reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive” country, according to reporting by CNBC.

The “sensitive” country designation is one Google uses for countries with strict governments or border disputes, with others including Russia, China, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. In making this change, Google also added Mexico to its list.

At first, users may still see the Gulf of Mexico and Denali names for the locations President Trump renamed to the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley, respectively. 

Google said it will make the change after the U.S. updates what Google described as “official government sources.”

It’s just the latest sign of a tech giant changing its approach to the U.S. under President Trump.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai attended President Trump’s inauguration, sitting in the Capitol rotunda alongside the heads of other large tech companies. The company also donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration fund.

And some of Google’s peers have made larger changes to align more closely with the president’s views.

Earlier this month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company’s platforms would drop fact-checking and loosen their enforcement of policies governing what they had described as hateful conduct.

Both Meta and Amazon have pulled back on their diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives. President Trump has signed executive orders restricting the initiatives’ use at federal agencies.

And TikTok thanked President Trump in their notification to U.S. users after the then-president-elect said he would hold off on enforcing a ban on the Chinese-owned app in the U.S.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

And for all the latest updates on this and other top stories, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit SAN.com.