LONDON: Google said on Tuesday it has not made changes to how it censors satellite imagery of Russia, contrary to widely circulated claims on Twitter that it “opened access to Russia’s military and strategic facilities.”
Numerous reports, many of which came from Ukraine, claimed that Google had removed the blurring from sensitive military sites in Russia.
“Please note that we haven’t made any blurring changes to our satellite imagery in Russia,” Google tweeted in response to a popular post that claimed to show the changes.
“Google Maps has stopped hiding Russia’s secret military & strategic facilities. Allowing anyone in the public to view. Open sourcing all secret Russian installations: including ICBMs, command posts and more with a resolution of 0.5m per pixel,” tweeted an unverified user with the handle @ArmedForcesUk.
The tweet in question has been cited and boosted several times by the official Ukrainian Ministry of Defense account.
Shortly afterward, some social media users reported that Twitter had blocked the account @ArmedForcesUk, and criticized the platform for its policies.
Some users even asked people to help reinstate the account by sharing the post on Twitter and contacting the company’s information technology support.
The claims suggested that Google had opened up the images in an attempt to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Many posts said that people would now be able to help find Russian installations from home.
Those posts have become hugely popular, as some celebrated what they thought was Google helping in the fight against Russia’s invasion of the country.
Google has now said that it has not changed the blurring of its satellite imagery — and that those sites were visible before the latest outbreak of fighting.
For other countries, Google does blur military sites. For example, some French Air Force bases are hidden on the site. But some important military bases and other sensitive areas remain visible. For instance, Area 51 can be seen on the company’s satellite images.
