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| - Fact Check: Has Google Maps removed LoC from Indian map?
A viral map shows Jammu and Kashmir as a whole, without a line separating PoK, suggesting that PoK is a part of India. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be incorrect.
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India Today Fact Check
LoC is not visible if a person is seeing the map from India. It is only visible if the map is seen from outside India.
Soon after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) started issuing weather forecasts for areas under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a Google map of India without the Line of Control (LoC) demarcation has started going viral on social media.
The viral map shows Jammu and Kashmir as a whole, without a line separating PoK, suggesting that PoK is a part of India. The claim along with the picture says Google has removed LoC from the map of India, and soon PoK will be a part of India.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim to be incorrect. The LoC is not visible on the Indian map if viewed from inside India. If one sees the map from outside India, the LoC will be visible. This is because Google redraws disputed boundaries on maps, depending upon where the map is viewed.
The post has been shared widely on Facebook and Twitter. The caption along with the viral map states, “Google Maps removed #LOC It’s just a matter of time #POK will be ours. Give Thumbs Up if you all Agree!”
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
AFWA probe
Using related keywords, we found a report by “The Washington Post” saying that Google Maps in India displays the whole of J&K as fully under Indian control. But if the Indian map is viewed from any other country, it shows a dashed grey line separating PoK from J&K.
The report also says that to draw borderlines, Google consults local governments and other official authorities and sometimes it alters the map under political pressure. The article was published in February this year.
AFWA verified the same using a VPN to see the Indian map from Singapore. In the Indian map viewed from Singapore, a dashed grey line clearly depicts LoC, but if the same map is viewed from India, the LoC is not visible.
“The Washington Post” report gives similar examples of other disputed boundaries in the world, such as Crimea between Russia and Ukraine, where Google changes disputed borders based on where one is looking from.
Google policies on maps say, “Disputed boundaries are displayed as a dashed grey line. The places involved don’t agree on a boundary.”
Hence, it can be said that the viral claim of Google Maps removing LoC from the Indian map is false. The LoC is visible if the Indian map is viewed from outside India.
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