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.
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
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