GULF IN CLASS

Google Accused of Censorship After Blocking ‘Gulf of America’ Reviews

President Donald Trump has demanded that the body of water be known by a new name in the U.S.

Users have accused Google of censorship after the tech giant blocked reviews for the Gulf of America and allegedly removed negative ratings. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month renaming the Gulf of Mexico, as it was known for 400 years, to the Gulf of America. He declared Feb. 9 “Gulf of America Day” after staffers at the Board on Geographic Names effectuated the name change last week. When Google changed the name on Maps to reflect Trump’s decision, users flooded the site to leave negative reviews. But at the time of writing, users receive a message saying “posting is currently turned off” when they attempt to review the Gulf on Maps. The BBC reported that the tech giant also appeared to have erased some negative reviews. The company countered that some of the reviews were “off-topic or unrelated to someone’s direct experience with the place,” pointing to a 2023 blog post about fake reviews.