first published week of: 06/23/2014
Google may be standing up to government surveillance, but on Google Maps it shies away from conflict.
The company displays the borders of 32 states differently than the other 162 members of the United Nations. Many of these countries have long had disputed borders or are currently facing military conflicts.
Google Maps is customized in many ways to better serve people based on their location, and adhere to local laws, regulations, and preferences according to Google. But the geo-highlighting feature, which puts a border around searched areas, is unaffected by a person’s location. For instance, a search for “Brazil” in Google Maps yields this: continued…