/scanPolitics & policy
Google Maps shows "Lake America" for US users
An executive order renamed Lake Ontario for US audiences and Google Maps complied. X is split on what the change means.
- Observed threads
- 12
- Source clusters
- 4
- Observed
- Updated
What changed
US users of Google Maps now see "Lake America" on the lake's label. Canadian users still see Lake Ontario, and much of the world sees both names side by side.
The split
Supporters cheer the rename and mock the backlash. Critics ask why a maps company renders a political order as geography, since the lake is shared with Canada and a US order cannot rename the Canadian side.
Worth noting
Posts from Canada and Europe report different labels on the same lake at the same time. What a map shows now depends on where you open it.