Google has shut down reviews for the Gulf of Mexico as legal threat over name change to Gulf of America surfaces.
Users of Google Maps reported the turning off of reviews late on 13 February. According to the users, the company may have turned off the reviews because of too many critical reviews against the renaming of the gulf.
Mexico threatens legal action
Following the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, the Mexican government has threatened to sue Google.
President Claudia Sheinbaum during her daily press conference said that Google wrongly renamed the entire body of water as the Gulf of America because Trump’s executive order only applies to the U.S. continental shelf.
Indeed, Google Maps’ update only changed the name of the gulf to “Gulf of America” for American users, while Mexicans still see it as “Gulf of Mexico”. For the rest of the world, it is “Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of America”.
This is why some have argued that Mexico doesn’t have the right to sue the company for renaming the sea. One of the comments read:
“Mexico is suing for something they can’t sue for. The gulf of Mexico is changed only in America. So they can’t really sue for that.”
The name change followed an executive order by U.S. president Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration.
The decision has received much criticism from those who think Google had no obligation to rename the gulf because of the executive order.
Google receives backlash
Prior to Mexico’s legal threats, Google has received serious backlash from both American and non-America Google Maps users.
Some users even called the company a bootlicker because of the decision, saying the company was only protecting its interest rather than being professional.
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