Mexico sues Google for labeling Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America

MEXICO CITY — Mexico has sued tech giant Google over its labeling of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a change made by President Trump via executive order, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday.

Sheinbaum did not provide details of the lawsuit during her daily press briefing, but said that Google had been sued.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations ministry had previously sent letters to Google asking it to not label Mexican territorial waters as the Gulf of America.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.

Mexico argues that Gulf of America should only apply to the part of the gulf over the U.S. continental shelf.

In February, Sheinbaum shared a letter from Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, stating that Google would not change the policy it outlined after Trump declared the body of water the Gulf of America.

As it stands, the gulf appears in Google Maps as Gulf of America within the United States, as Gulf of Mexico within Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) elsewhere. Turner in his letter said the company was using Gulf of America to follow “long-standing maps policies impartially and consistently across all regions.”

The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. The White House moved in February to block the AP from being among the small group of journalists to cover Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, with sporadic ability to cover him at events in the East Room.

The AP sued three Trump administration officials over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists.

A federal judge ordered the White House last month to restore the AP’s full access to cover presidential events, affirming on 1st Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech. The judge’s decision granted emergency relief while the lawsuit proceeds.