Comment by thrance
6 hours ago
> As the publishers of a geographic reference tool, we believe that Google should not choose sides in international geopolitical disputes. For this reason, we've chosen to implement a uniform policy of Primary Local Usage.
Yeah, right, until a wannabe despot comes in and demands Google come lick its boots. In which case Google immediately complies with zero objection.
No, no, not "a" wannabe despot - specifically one from the United States and possibly Cina. You can be certain they would not care about the demands of, say, the president of Cuba.
They told China and Russia to take a hike, but their business in the US is so large that they gave in. Apple had so much business in China that it removed the TW flag emoji at China's request in a way that caused the font renderer to crash. https://www.wired.com/story/apple-china-censorship-bug-iphon...
Following local laws is not so bad. What's bad is when they politically support these despots after previously stating ideological opposition to similar despots in other countries. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/us/politics/sergey-brin-g...