Mexico Might Sue Google Over “Gulf of Mexico” Name Change

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on February 13 that her government is willing to take Google to civil court over its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on Google Maps. Sheinbaum clarified that the government would wait for Google’s response before taking legal action.

Google changed the name of the international body of water after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding the name change across all official US resources. At the moment, the name displayed by Google depends on the user’s location, appearing as Gulf of Mexico for users in Mexico, Gulf of America for users inside the US, and as “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)” for all other users.

At a press conference, Sheinbaum argued that Trump’s order applies exclusively to the US’ continental shelf, which covers 22 nautical miles from the US coast.

“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 told reporters. Around 46% of the gulf’s area belongs to US jurisdiction, while around 49% is controlled by Mexico, and 5% by Cuba.

The Mexican president made a point to clarify that her objections are directed at Google, not the US government. “Who we have a dispute with at the moment is Google,” she said.

In a response to a letter by the Mexican government, Google wrote back, “as we first announced two weeks ago, and consistent with our product policies, we’ve begun rolling out changes in Google Maps. We would like to confirm that people using Maps in Mexico will continue to see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’”

Sheinbaum said the Mexican government is now sending a letter back to Google, that reads “any reference to the ‘Gulf of America’ initiative on your Google Maps platform must be strictly limited to the marine area under U.S. jurisdiction. Any extension beyond that zone exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity. Should that be the case, the Government of Mexico will take the appropriate legal actions as deemed necessary.”

Google’s move comes as social media companies increasingly seem to adopt policies to appease the Trump administration. Last month, Meta announced it would end its fact-checking program, which Trump heavily criticized.