In his first month as POTUS, Donald Trump has released a wave of regressive executive orders, temporarily frozen essential federal funds, and instated Elon Musk as a de facto czar of federal employees. His policy announcements have targeted LGBTQ communities, so-called “DEI” policies, and federal agencies tasked with humanitarian aid and national health and security. Along with these alarming moves, Trump also took aim at a lesser-known evil: the name of the body of water off the southeastern coast of the United States.
What was once (for centuries) the Gulf of Mexico is now being referred to in 1984-style double speak as the “Gulf of America.”
Tech companies did little to push back on the name change. Google announced, almost immediately, that it would change the title in Google Maps, and Apple followed suit not long after. But a new extension for Chrome users, titled “FixTheGulf”, may help users fight back instead.
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Created by modder and iOS developer Bryce Bostwick and uploaded to GitHub on Feb. 15, the extension restores (or, as Bostwick says, “reclaims”) the Gulf of Mexico title to Google Maps with the click of a button. A simple, but impactful, use of digital tools to defy the Trump administration’s aggressive policy push.
“There are a lot of scary executive orders being issued right now,” the extension’s download page reads. “This is not one of the most important ones. But it might be the easiest to defy.” Bostwick breaks down exactly how it works — and how interested developers can build their own — below:
