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n1 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Google has been accused of deleting Palestine from Google Maps – but the truth is, it was never labelled by Google in the first place.

When searching for Palestine on Google Maps, it shows an outline, but with no label for Palestine and Israel labelled alongside it. While 136 members of the United Nations recognise Palestine as an independent state, the US and much of the west does not.

[...] A Google spokeswoman said: “There has never been a ‘Palestine’ label on Google Maps, however we discovered a bug that removed the labels for ‘West Bank’ and ‘Gaza Strip’. We’re working quickly to bring these labels back to the area.”

[...] A 2014 project called Disputed Territories documented how Google Maps attempts to stay out of geographical disputes and issues of national identity.

For example: users in Russia see a solid boundary line around Russia and Crimea. Outside of Russia, Crimea is surrounded by dashed lines, indicating it as occupied territory.

Source: The Guardian [theguardian.com]

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