Mexico is suing Google over how it’s labeling the Gulf of Mexico

6 months ago 25
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaking connected April 22, 2025. | Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday that her authorities is suing Google for relabeling the Gulf of Mexico arsenic “Gulf of America” for US users, CBS News reports. The institution had done truthful successful Google Maps aft President Trump ordered the sanction alteration astatine the opening of his Presidential term.

The suit makes bully connected Sheinbaum’s February threat that Mexico would “proceed to court” if the institution didn’t alteration the name, which it kept arsenic Gulf of Mexico for users successful Mexico, but switched to “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” successful regions extracurricular of the 2 countries. According to a machine-translated transcript of Sheinbaum’s Friday property briefing, she says “the lone happening we privation is compliance with the decree issued by the United States government,” which, she adds, “wouldn’t person the authorization to sanction the full Gulf, due to the fact that that is an planetary attribution.”

President Sheinbaum continues:

We couldn’t accidental thing astir changing the sanction of a state, a mountain, oregon a lake. So, the portion of their territory that corresponds to them tin beryllium called immoderate they decide. The portion that corresponds to Mexico can’t beryllium renamed. The portion that corresponds to Cuba can’t beryllium renamed, either. So, what we’re saying is, “Google, instrumentality to what the United States authorities approved.”

Prior to her briefing, Mexico sent letters to Google asking it not to statement its territorial waters arsenic Gulf of America, and Sheinbaum shared a reply from Google VP of authorities affairs and nationalist argumentation Cris Turner stating the institution had nary plans to alteration its policy. CBS News notes that the US House passed a measure connected Thursday that would codify the sanction change.

The Trump medication has been insistent that non-government entities grant the Gulf of America moniker, adjacent barring The Associated Press from Oval Office property briefings erstwhile the outlet refused to usage the caller sanction successful archetypal reporting — a prohibition that a federal justice ordered past month beryllium dropped. Among tech companies, Google was 1 of the archetypal tech to comply with Trump’s wishes, altering the Gulf of Mexico’s sanction to Gulf of America successful app and browser versions of Google Maps by February 10th. Apple soon followed suit. MapQuest, connected the different hand, doesn’t look to person fixed in, and has a site specifically making airy of the sanction change.

Google did not instantly respond to The Verge’s petition for comment.

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