A screenshot from Google Maps, as seen in India
In recent days, images showing Google Maps having revised its maps in removing the Line of Control from the geography of Jammu and Kashmir have been going viral on social media. Some internet users in India come to terms with a pleasant development, that the Line of Control (LoC) has been removed from the map. The whole Jammu and Kashmir (including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is appearing as a single unit on the map, without any mention of the LoC.
The revised map, which is in consonance with the stated position of India (that the entire Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India), however, doesn't show up when one looks at it from a location outside India.
Fact-checking website Factly, reporting on the development, pointed out that the maps appearing on Google are customised as per different geographical locations. "Disputed boundaries are displayed as a dashed gray line. The places involved don’t agree on a boundary," Factly cited a criterion on the official page of Google Maps.
To reinforce its claim, Factly published a Google Map result from a user based in the US, which very much showed the LoC as part of India's geography.
Further, it has been reported that the revised map policy of the Silicon-headquartered company had come into effect back in February, having been reported by Washington Post back then. "In countries where we have local versions of Google Maps, we follow local legislation when displaying names and borders,” a Google executive had been quoted as saying by The Post in February.
