Mexico Threatens to Sue Google as Gulf of America Appears on Maps
Mexico demanded Monday from Google that its map services change the name Gulf of America back to the Gulf of Mexico. If the company fails to do this, it will face a lawsuit.
In a letter to Google, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that gulf regions not under jurisdiction of the United States should not be labeled Gulf of America. This “exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity,” the Mexican president claimed in the letter. According to Sheinbaum, only zones under U.S. jurisdiction should have the label of “Gulf of America” on maps.
The map presently shows the region as the “Gulf of America” for U.S. users alone. For users in other countries, the gulf appears described as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).” For Mexican users, the map continues to state “Gulf of Mexico” to describe the aquatic region.
If Google fails to revert the gulf to its original name, Mexico said it “will take the appropriate legal actions as deemed necessary.”
Sheinbaum has strongly expressed disagreement with the U.S. establishing the Gulf of America. On February 13, she threatened a potential lawsuit against Google in light of the company’s decision to use Gulf of America on its maps for U.S. users.
The U.S. has yet to comment on Mexico’s stance towards the Gulf of America. The looming lawsuit against Google, an American multinational corporation, has not been mentioned by the U.S. either.
On X, Google stated its policy for geographical name changes made by governments:
“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
Currently, user posts and reviews under the Gulf of America are turned off due to the controversy behind the name change.
Following Google, Apple Maps also replaced the Gulf of Mexico with the Gulf of America. Sheinbaum has yet to address Apple’s decision.
