Mexico has filed a lawsuit towards Google after it modified the label for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps platform to match US President Donald Trump’s government order to amend the identify of the physique of water, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum introduced Friday.
Sheinbaum mentioned at a press briefing that the lawsuit had been filed towards the tech big, with out offering extra particulars.
The lawsuit comes after Sheinbaum threatened in February to sue Google for the identify change.
“We are going to wait. We are already seeing, observing what this would mean from the perspective of legal advice, but we hope that they will make a revision,” Sheinbaum mentioned on the time.
Mexico’s Overseas Relations Ministry has additionally beforehand despatched letters to Google urging it to not relabel the oceanic basin because the Gulf of America.
Trump signed an order on his first day again within the White Home in January to rename the northern a part of the gulf to the Gulf of America.
The physique of water has shared borders between the USA and Mexico, and Trump’s order solely carries authority inside the US.
Mexico has argued that the Gulf of America label ought to solely apply to the half over the US continental shelf.
The US has management over about 46% of the gulf, Mexico controls about 49% and Cuba controls about 5%, based on Sovereign Limits, a database of worldwide boundaries.
“What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree, which applied only to the US continental shelf,” Sheinbaum mentioned in February.
The gulf seems in Google Maps because the Gulf of America inside the US, because the Gulf of Mexico inside Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) all over the place else.
It had been known as the Gulf of Mexico for greater than 400 years.
Google Maps started utilizing Gulf of America for customers within the US shortly after Trump’s order, citing its “longstanding practice” of following the US authorities’s lead on these issues.
In instances the place official names differ between nations, Google’s coverage says customers will see their official native names.
In February, the Mexican president shared a response from Google’s vp of presidency affairs and public coverage, Cris Turner, who mentioned the corporate wouldn’t change its coverage after Trump’s order.
Sheinbaum’s announcement of the lawsuit comes after Home Republicans handed the Gulf of America Act in a 211-206 vote, marking step one in codifying Trump’s order. The laws now heads to the Senate.
Fox Information Digital has reached out to Google for remark.
