Mexico drags Google to court over renaming of Gulf of Mexico in Maps
Mexico is suing global search engine giant Google over the controversial renaming of the 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' on Google Maps for users within the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Friday.Controversy began after Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to change the body of water's name to the Gulf of America shortly after taking charge as US President. Google was amongst the first few companies to quickly comply with the order by updating its widely used Maps service to reflect the changes.advertisementPer the update, the Gulf of Mexico is shown as the Gulf of America to Google Maps users in the US. For users in Mexico, it is – still – the Gulf of Mexico. And for anybody outside the US and Mexico – like, for instance, for someone in India – Google has labelled it as the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).
President Sheinbaum lashed out at the move during a press briefing, saying no single country can rename a body of water with international borders unilaterally. 'We couldn't say anything about changing the name of a state, a mountain, or a lake within the US,' she said. 'So, the part of their territory that corresponds to them can be called whatever they decide. But the part that corresponds to Mexico [or Cuba] cannot be renamed.'advertisementThe US and Mexico share the coastlines along the Gulf. The maritime boundary is reportedly set at the centre of the Rio Grande and is a fixed line. Emphasising that the Gulf of Mexico is of 'international attribution,' President Sheinbaum said the legal action aims to ensure respect for territorial and geographic sovereignty is maintained.Her government had previously warned Google that it would drag the company to court if it did not reverse the decision. All requests were denied, with Google's Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Cris Turner, claiming the company was only following 'longstanding maps policies impartially and consistently.'The Mexican government argues that Google's compliance with a US-specific executive order should not extend to international waters or influence mapping in foreign territory.Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill (with a firm majority) to formally adopt the 'Gulf of America' name, reinforcing the executive order and instructing all federal agencies to update their maps accordingly.Like Google, Apple has also made changes to its competing Maps platform, though it is not known if Mexico plans to sue the iPhone-maker as well at this point in time. Some mapping services such as MapQuest have resisted making the suggested changes so far.Specifics of the legal complaint filed by Mexico have not been revealed at the time of writing.
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