Google has blocked customers from with the ability to edit Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, in accordance with BuzzFeed News. It’s additionally deleting all user-submitted locations and contributions, reminiscent of photographs, movies and enterprise info in these nations made since February twenty fourth. The tech big got here to the choice “out of an abundance of caution” after folks claimed throughout social networks that the Russian navy has been counting on pins created by customers on Maps to coordinate air strikes on Ukraine.
As BuzzFeed News explains, there are posts circulating on web sites like Twitter with screenshots of Maps exhibiting pins labeled ““ФЕРМЕРСЬКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО” or Ukrainian for “farm” in Kyiv. People have been reportedly claiming that user-made tags saying “farm” or “agriculture” created on February twenty eighth matched the areas of the missile strikes on cities that embody Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Google informed the publication, nevertheless, that a number of the consumer edits marking areas in Ukraine as “farms” have been made a yr in the past. Even so, it is disabling consumer contributions to Maps because the Russian invasion had began. An organization spokesperson mentioned:
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are removing user contributions like photos, videos, reviews and business information and all user-submitted places from Google Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus since the invasion began, and are temporarily blocking new edits from being made.”
A couple of days in the past, the tech big additionally eliminated stay visitors information on Maps in Ukraine, most probably to guard the areas of fleeing locals. It blocked the YouTube channels of Russian state-owned media retailers RT and Sputnik on throughout Europe, as properly, following the European Commission’s announcement that it might ban what it calls “Kremlin’s media machine” within the EU. Other tech corporations had additionally responded to calls to restrict their providers in Russia and to dam entry to its state-owned media retailers. Facebook took down faux accounts spreading Russian disinformation and restricted RT’s and Sputnik’s entry to its platform, for example. More lately, Apple halted all product gross sales in Russia and disabled all visitors information in Ukraine after a request from Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
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