Google Removed Tags on Ukrainian Google Maps
NEW YORK — Google Removed Tags on Ukrainian Google Maps, in press releases. Ukrainian-language accounts claimed edits targeted gas stations, schools, and hospitals in cities like Kyiv.
Responding to claims that its Maps were being used to coordinate Russian military activity in Ukraine, Google on Tuesday began removing user-submitted locations within the borders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The company is removing new content such as photos and business information “out of an abundance of caution,” a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
Across social media platforms on Tuesday, people accused Google Maps of hosting content allegedly used to target airstrikes on cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv.
“The tags in Google Maps were created on Feb 28th, and people noticed that the tags match the places the missile strikes today,” one of these individuals, Oleksandr Balatskyi, told BuzzFeed News in a Twitter DM. People claimed that the tags, or user-generated pins, began appearing yesterday with titles such as “ФЕРМЕРСЬКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО,” or Ukrainian for “farm,” and “СІЛЬСКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО,” or Ukrainian for “agriculture.”
BuzzFeed News could not independently verify the existence of specific pins, or the claim that Russia’s military added them to Google Maps. Dozens of Twitter users have shared the same set of screenshots showing pins labeled “ФЕРМЕРСЬКЕ ГОСПОДАРСТВО” in Kyiv, though it is unclear when they were created and by whom.
