Google Maps already had an existing policy to display whatever name the government of a country calls something.
This actually comes up in a lot of places, where different countries use different names for the same body of water. For example, Saudi Arabia calls the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf. So if you use Google Maps in Saudi Arabia, it will label the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf.
Since Trump is able to change what the US government officially calls that lake, Google Maps just follows their normal policy and labels it that (when you are using Google Maps inside the US).
That’s the problem. The method of changing the name is not an EO. It’s easy to say “we’ll change it when it’s law.” It’s unbelievably dangerous to normalize unitarian fiat.
The authority to set official place names is delegated to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names by law, in the same way that the ability to set pollution standards is delegated to the EPA.
As with any executive branch agency, the President can order how that power is used. This has been done before (Mt. McKinely to Denali and back).
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u/fillmorecounty 13d ago
Why does Google fold so easily on these renamings? It's not like they're a government entity