this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
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Summary

Google has reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country” following Trump’s announcement to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and Mount Denali as Mount McKinley.

The designation, typically reserved for nations with border disputes or strict governments, reflects the growing challenges tech companies face under Trump’s second term.

Google Maps has prioritized updating these name changes, treating them similarly to disputed regions like the Persian Gulf.

The reclassification may impact how Google handles U.S. geographic labels moving forward.

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[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 164 points 1 month ago (4 children)

You don't have to be polite Google. The more proper term is 'snowflake country'... our government has the absolute thinnest skin.

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 34 points 1 month ago (3 children)

"Snowflake" is still pretty polite. But "pussy" is politically incorrect. There's probably a better word out there.

[–] harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 month ago

Wankers. The US government and "conservative" local governments are full of wankers. Ratty, unwashed cum socks are more pleasant to deal with.

[–] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 11 points 1 month ago

If the president doesn't shy away from using a politically incorrect word like that, then I find it entirely justified to use the same term when talking about him and the country he represents.

[–] suzune@ani.social 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago
[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You mean that waddle formation under his chin?

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[–] aaron@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

We 'meric'ns prefer "global warming denialism proof-crystals"

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Looks like Snowstorm 2025 is going to keep blowing over the continental United States until 2028

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Only metaphorically. The snow where it should be, doesn't exist. This year alone, Florida has way more snow than Iowa. If that's not an indicator, I don't know what is.

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[–] can@sh.itjust.works 113 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

Shidded on hard.

[–] mkwt@lemmy.world 60 points 1 month ago (2 children)

NOAA government nautical chart from today:

[–] formergijoe@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

The executive order gave something like 3 months for the secretary of interior to rename it. Trump's guy hasnt been confirmed as secretary of interior.

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[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 36 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

You’re clearly in the gulf of amexicalifornmerica.

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[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago (2 children)

May be an unpopular opinion, but Google is right! It may also be that I’ve only read the headlines and am totally off-base, but ….

It’s not google’s business to decide what to call things, nor would they want any controversies attached to it. Every country and internationally has data with what they want to call things. It’s their right to do so, even snowflake countries trying to erase cultures and history. It’s in Google’s best interest to implement exactly what those official data sources call things, presumably those have gone through whatever due process exists, without regard to what they think is right or wrong. If there’s evidence of the country being a special snowflake, or launching a flurry of changes, it’s in Googles interest to implement those changes more quickly, but NOT to take matters into their own hands

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Your comment reminded me of how Hollywood would remove Jewish actors from their films because they didn't want to stand up to the nazis.

Hollywood's decision to accommodate Nazi demands during the 1930s was driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to maintain access to Germany, then a significant film market. Studios made concessions, such as removing Jewish characters and avoiding anti-Nazi themes, to avoid being banned in Germany[1][3][6]. Despite many Jewish studio heads, profit motives often outweighed moral considerations[3][4]. However, this collaboration remains controversial, as it involved suppressing anti-Nazi content and sidelining Jewish actors during a time of rising persecution[6][8].

Citations: [1] The Chilling History of How Hollywood Helped Hitler (Exclusive) https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/how-hollywood-helped-hitler-595684/ [2] When the Nazis Seized Power, This Jewish Actor Took on the Role ... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-nazis-seized-power-this-jewish-actor-took-on-role-life-180985228/ [3] Did Hollywood studios help the Nazis? - BBC https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20130930-did-hollywood-help-the-nazis [4] The Myth of Jewish Hollywood's Collaboration With the Nazis https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/jewish-hollywood-collaboration [5] Fleeing the Nazis for a haven in Hollywood - Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-03-et-hitlerhollywood3-story.html [6] [PDF] The Collaboration of American Movie Studios with Nazi Germany By ... https://escholarship.org/content/qt97m7w0gs/qt97m7w0gs_noSplash_a6f7eff117f760f718ff016c0ab5c1bc.pdf [7] The Emigration of Filmmakers Under National-Socialism | filmportal.de https://www.filmportal.de/en/topic/the-emigration-of-filmmakers-under-national-socialism [8] Hitler's Willing Hollywood Collaborators - The Forward https://forward.com/culture/186509/hitlers-willing-hollywood-collaborators/ [9] Jews who fled the Nazis to make films in Hollywood https://jweekly.com/2014/11/27/jews-who-fled-the-nazis-to-make-films-in-hollywood/ [10] Jews in American cinema - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_in_the_history_of_American_film

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is far different than choosing to filter themselves for appeasement. This is deciding to work with international standards and laws, and to stick with it as the best course even if they have an opinion. This is a business of publishing facts and Google should not be the arbiter of the facts

I agree, I don’t want Google deciding place names for anything. We already have processes and organizations that do that. My government may be getting more dysfunctional every day but it is their role

While I oppose these naming changes out of personal spite , oppose that it didn’t respect locals, oppose that it overrode Congress, oppose that it was done outside the law, it would be even worse if Google were part of the decision process. For better or worse there is a legal name and Google should just use whatever it is

[–] renzev@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This reminds of how when the unicode consortium had to add flag emojis, instead of opening the can of worms on what countries are independent or not, they just noped out of it and let the implementers decide which combinations of regional indicator letters render as country flags.

[–] Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

That's very interesting. Do you know where I could learn more about that decision? I tried searching but its 2025 and any phrases I could think of just returned websites offering nearly identical collections of flag emojis...

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[–] KSPAtlas@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 month ago

Is that why there are some flag emoji (like the Taiwan/ROC flag) that don't render on certain devices?

[–] HighFructoseLowStand@lemm.ee 33 points 1 month ago

I would typically roll my eyes at something like this, but in less than two weeks Trump has taken great strides towards destroying the federal civil service, any semblance of a rules-based international order and our relationships abroad, while doing everything but publicly endorsing violence against his political opponents.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Would that mean we, as a country, are now snowflakes? 😅

So much for ending woke culture

[–] Clbull@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Turns out Republicans were the true soy boys

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[–] boredtortoise@lemm.ee 22 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The USA, Russia, China... birds of a feather

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Colonialize together?

[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Meanwhile, Google Maps shows Gulf of America now... So, take it with a grain of crack.

[–] BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 69 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It only does it in the country, as a Canadian I still see gulf of Mexico.

That's the whole point of this sensitive designation

[–] takeda@lemm.ee 35 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I am in the US and still see Gulf of Mexico.

I would actually love if for the next 4 years they just got busy only remaining places on map and nothing else.

Sadly much more damaging stuff is happening and this is just another distraction.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 30 points 1 month ago

Renaming shit on maps is part of erasing that a people ever existed there at all. The towns in Poland my family came from aren't on any maps any more. Their names exist only in stories passed down to me, and to a few people who also received them still living where those towns used to be. That I didn't even know for 33 years where to find the towns in my great great grandmother's stories was exactly the aim of the ethnic cleansing that brought her here.

I get that it seems silly and ridiculous and like a big distraction to a lot of people, and on some level, yes, that is the point of renaming shit on maps when you're just going to do the killings anyway, but also... The point is the killings, and when a big authoritarian dickhead shows up saying he wants to rename shit on a map? Freak the fuck out. This dude plans to kill.

[–] MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's funny how people think it will be 4 years. This shit will not be over in 4 years.

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[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Pourquoi n'est-il pas correctement étiqueté? C'est le Golfe du Québec!

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

If the Bloc runs on that platform, I'd vote for them from Ontario.

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 month ago

Hilarious ... Google has placed baby bumpers for Americans on Google Maps

Careful sweetie, you might hurt yourself

[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

I live in the US in a very red state and mine still shows "Gulf of Mexico"

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

take it with a grain of crack.

That DOES seem to make keeping up with the news more fun 🤔

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[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 10 points 1 month ago (4 children)

You FUCKING COWARDS.

What the hell happened, man.

I get why you have to do it with China. You need to move on with your life, and you're going to be caught up in endless ridiculous squabbles, and life is short.

You KNOW you don't actually have to do it for Trump.

You're just deciding to. It's like in the movie, "How in the WORLD could this guy take the money, when he knows it's wrong."

Why in the world, man. What happened.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

They operate in his jurisdiction.

[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No they don't. They operate in the United States government's jurisdiction.

I know that Trump thinks that a consequence of that is that he can simply order them to do whatever he wants, and they have to do it, but that's not true. Or, it's only true to the extent that people around him start to see it that way, and act on it, and start to punish people who don't do whatever he says, regardless of what the law or the rest of the United States government which is considerable has to say about it.

That's one reason I think they're cowards. Because the more that people start to mutually believe that everything Trump says, is law, the more other people will agree to it and start to act on it as if it's the same way. We made all this up. We pretend there's a "constitution" that means something, we pretend "congress" is something special, not just a bunch of old guys in a building who write weird incomprehensible documents, we pretend it all means something, when at the end of the day it's just a bunch of monkeys who run around making special noises.

And we can start to pretend Trump is king, too, if we want to. I don't want to, and I get irritated at people who start pretending that he is. That shit's contagious.

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[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

International mega corps are arguably more powerful than the federal government. Theyve gone with the government solely because it benefits them at the moment... They think. This hard-line bullshit only benefits the corporations and mega rich. But what's coming is a collapse of power, money and interests. America is collapsing in front of our eyes, it's time to move on from trying to preserve what was, and work on removing threats and rebuilding. The mindset is what needs to change.

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[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 month ago

(For anyone curious, I just did this, and it still shows as Gulf of Mexico for me)

[–] EmilyIsTrans@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Only for the United States, I still see "Gulf of Mexico" in Australia

[–] DBT@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

I’m in the US and just updated Google Maps and it still shows the correct name.

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[–] ErrorCode@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

I'm going to start calling it the Gulf of Cuba.

[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There’s a sensitivity rating on google?

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 8 points 1 month ago

They manage maps. Maps are extremely political

[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 11 points 1 month ago

He ruined the song!

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin'

There wasn't as many as there was a while ago

We fired once more and they began to runnin'

On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of America

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