Mexico has sued tech giant Google over its re-labelling of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a name change made by US President Donald Trump via executive order.
“The lawsuit has already been filed,” Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday at a news conference, without saying where and when it was submitted.
The gulf shares borders with both the United States and Mexico, and Trump’s order only carries authority within the US. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognise the name change.
Mexico argues that "Gulf of America" should only apply to the part of the gulf over the United States continental shelf.
Mexico’s foreign ministry had previously sent letters to Google asking it to not re-label Mexican territorial waters as the Gulf of America.
In February, Sheinbaum shared a letter from Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, stating that Google will not change the policy it outlined after Trump declared the body of water the Gulf of America.
Turner in his letter said the company was using Gulf of America to follow “longstanding maps policies impartially and consistently across all regions”.
As it stands, the gulf appears in Google Maps as Gulf of America within the United States, as Gulf of Mexico within Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) elsewhere.
Read moreGoogle changes Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America' for US Maps users after Trump order
Name goes centuries back
The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press refers to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.
The White House moved in February to block the AP from being among the small group of journalists to cover Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One, with sporadic ability to cover him at events in the East Room.
The AP sued three Trump administration officials over access to presidential events, citing freedom of speech in asking a federal judge to stop the blocking of its journalists.
Read moreTrump says AP will be restricted from White House until it adopts 'Gulf of America'
A federal judge ordered the White House last month to restore the AP’s full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organisation for the content of its speech.
The judge’s decision granted emergency relief while the lawsuit proceeds.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
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