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By Sara Elghobashy November 4, 2009 Popular internet sites like Facebook and Google Maps have been getting into a bit of trouble related to the politics of borders lately. Last month, Indian politicians were angry after learning that Google Maps had ceded border towns in Arunachal Pradesh to China and had listed them under their Chinese names. The map also appeared to question other parts of India’s border with the Chinese state as well as its borders with Bhutan and Burma. China and India disagree over areas like Ladakh in Jammu, Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, which China says was illegally ceded to India in 1913. The map was published just as discussions about the borders were about to begin and has Indian MPs suspicious that China might be in cahoots with Google Maps. (I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but I doubt that Google is taking orders from China.) But Google Maps is not the first site to get caught up in a border dispute. Facebook knows this game all too well. Take the Golan Heights, for example. The area of the Golan Heights was captured by Israel during the Six Day War but almost every country in the world, including the United States, recognizes that this is occupied Syrian territory. However, when Israeli citizens learned that Facebook automatically lists them as living in Syria, they formed an online campaign backed by the pro-Israel group HonestReporting, to pressure Facebook into allowing users to choose whether they live in Syria or Israel. Facebook agreed, however, it angered the Syrian government, which is reportedly planning a boycott of the popular social media site. Facebook has also had to deal with several disputes involving Israel and Palestine. In 2006, Facebook briefly stopped allowing users to list themselves as citizens of Palestine or as a part of a Palestinian network. After an online petition circulated, reaching over 14,000 supporters, Facebook reinstated Palestine as an option, but pro-Israel groups quickly moved to demand it be removed again. The decision to include Palestine as an option also angered Israelis in the West Bank, who were listed as citizens of Palestine instead of Israel. (Is anyone else’s head spinning?) Facebook faces similar problems now with disputes over Kashmir, Jammu and Tibet. Perhaps that is why Facebook, in conjunction with a Stanford University lab, decided to launch “Peace on Facebook.” The platform aims to show the number of friendships formed between people of different geographic locations, religions, religious sects and political affiliations that are perceived to be in conflict or disagreement by the media’s polarizing reports. It also allows users to share their thoughts on the issues and vote on whether or not they believe world peace is possible. (It’s like a Miss America pageant without the crown.) There is no doubt that border disputes will continue to spill over into the world of Google Maps and Facebook. As long as the world continues to dispute land, that land will continue to cause problems for sites that list them. Perhaps that is why Twitter opted out of a set list of locations. Genius. Photo Credit: Google Maps http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/featured_articles_detail/out_of_bounds_border_politics_heat_up_online-nid915824627/