(CN) - At a daily press briefing on Friday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her country is suing Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico in its Maps product.
Per the wishes of President Donald Trump, that body of water is now labeled the "Gulf of America" for many users, including in the United States. Maps users located in Mexico still see the original name.
The "Gulf of Mexico" nomenclature first appeared in world maps in 1500s, when the Spain dominated this region. The name was universally accepted until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, when Trump in a day-one executive order announced the change. He said Gulf of America had "a beautiful ring" to it.
The order changed the official name within the United States' Geographic Names Information System or GNIS, the standardized geographic dictionary on which companies like Google rely. But critics say the change is pointless and divisive, and it's caused a range of bureaucratic and diplomatic headaches, including this latest lawsuit.
By press time, it was unclear whether Mexico had yet filed its suit - and if so, what court the case is in.
Although Trump's order did not compel private entities to use the new name, political pressure - coupled with formal changes to the GNIS - soon led companies like Google to update its maps according to Trump's wishes. Other map providers like Apple and Bing soon followed suit.
As a graphic from Google explains, the full name change applies only to U.S.-based users. Mexican users still get the original name, while those in the rest of the world get both. The company cited its "longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources" like the GNIS.
Maps companies aren't the only ones using the new name. Lawmakers in Republican states increasingly are as well, as are many nonprofits that rely on federal funding. As the Nature Conservancy explained in a news release, the change was "required" to "ensure our programs continue, in accordance with clear directives from federal agencies."
Others are pushing back. While the new name appears in outlets like Axios and (shocker!) Fox News, others - including the Associated Press and Courthouse News - continue to refer to the Gulf as the Gulf of Mexico.
On February 11, the White House retaliated against the Associated Press, blocking the 178-year-old nonprofit news organization from a small group of journalists invited to cover Trump at an Oval Office event.
"The body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America," press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained of the situation. "I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that, but that is what it is."
The AP sued the Trump administration over the issue. A federal judge ordered the White House to temporarily restore the news wire service's full access on First Amendment grounds, though that case is still active.
Now, add to the list of controversies this new lawsuit from Mexico. Sheinbaum, a former scientist and academic turned left-wing politician who was elected president in 2024, first threatened to sue Google last week, accusing the tech giant of using an "inaccurate designation." In another letter, Sheinbaum demanded that Google still refer to the part of the Gulf under Mexican jurisdiction as the Gulf of Mexico.
"Any extension beyond that zone exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity," the letter reportedly added. "Should that be the case, the Government of Mexico will take the appropriate legal actions as deemed necessary."
Google has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Source: Courthouse News Service
