Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Google for labelling the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” in some parts of its map service.
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the legal action during a press briefing, stating it was a response to a naming change originally ordered by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Gulf of Mexico lies between the southern United States and eastern Mexico. Trump’s order to rename it carries weight only within U.S. territory, but Mexico says the change affects its national waters and should not appear on international platforms like Google Maps.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry had asked Google not to apply the new name, but the company declined to change its labelling policy. Google says it uses the name “Gulf of America” in line with its global mapping rules, showing different names depending on the country viewing the map.
Currently, the water is labeled “Gulf of America” in the U.S., “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico, and both names combined in other areas. Mexico argues that only the U.S. part of the gulf should use the new name, if at all.
The gulf has been called the “Gulf of Mexico” for over 400 years. Most global organisations and news outlets still use the original name, although some note the new title introduced by Trump.
This disagreement has also sparked attention around media freedom. After Trump’s order, the Associated Press was briefly blocked from attending certain White House events. A judge recently ruled that the AP must be allowed full access again, saying the government cannot limit the press based on what it publishes.
