"Israel’s assault on Gaza has shined a spotlight on what some Palestinians perceive as a digital apartheid. Small groups of workers at several tech companies have protested how common services such as YouTube and Instagram are denied to Palestinians or operate less effectively for them. Google Maps, in particular, has been a source of simmering frustration for years.

In 2018, 7amleh, a Palestinian digital rights organization, published a report on mapping tools that accused Google of allegedly making design choices in its app that disadvantaged Palestinians and helped legitimize the Israeli government’s views of the contested territory.

“Google Maps, as the largest global mapping and route planning service, has the power to influence global public opinion and therefore bears the responsibility to abide by international human rights standards and to offer a service that reflects the Palestinian reality,” the report said.

Because online maps have become a primary way that billions of people understand the world around them, how tech companies like Google depict and label politically sensitive areas and territories regularly generates public backlash and philosophical debate. Some countries, including the US, India, and China, have imposed specific requirements on mapping providers over the years. But the issues in the West Bank center on a specific feature—navigation—that historically hasn’t drawn as much attention but, now as much as ever, poses real safety fears for users."

https://www.wired.com/story/google-maps-west-bank/

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