This week we have seen big tech firms step up in terms of assisting where possible with the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with the likes of Meta tackling misinformation, Apple removing state-owned media apps from its App Store and now Google Maps is looking to help.
The mapping solution, which is the go-to solution for many, is now limiting how much user created data is added to its platform in the Ukraine.
This step was taken by Google Maps as it was reported that pins and other data shared on the app was allegedly being used to coordinate Russian military attacks.
Following targeted airstrikes over the weekend, several people in Ukraine noticed that tags on the platform created on 28th February coincided with the aforementioned location of attacks.
“The tags in Google Maps were created on Feb 28th, and people noticed that the tags match the places the missile strikes today,” Ukrainian Oleksandr Balatskyi, told BuzzFeed News.
While the validity of such claims still remains unclear, particularly as an investigation of the tags by Google showed that they were actually created more than a year ago, the company is still going to take action where it can.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are removing user contributions like photos, videos, reviews and business information and all user-submitted places from Google Maps in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus since the invasion began, and are temporarily blocking new edits from being made,” a Google spokesperson informed BuzzFeed News.
This is consistent with measures that Google has taken since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began late last month, with traffic data and information of where people have congregated being restricted in the region.
As we have seen with TikTok, social media and mobile applications can prove powerful tools for reporting, but they can also be exploited.
