Google has told Kiripost that hundreds of reported location violations in Cambodia have been removed and protection measures have been implemented to prevent future abuses, however, they provided little information on specific measures as Google’s system initially failed to detect these policy-violating edits.
On September 6, Cambodia Local Guide Community released its ‘Google Maps Location Violations Investigation’ report, revealing hundreds of Cambodian locations in 18 provinces have been manipulated by Thai accounts in a coordinated campaign to spread disinformation.
The report documented harassment, offensive language and misleading edits targeting tourist destinations, sensitive landmarks and border provinces, raising concerns over Cambodia’s digital sovereignty and the integrity of online mapping platforms.
Cambodia’s Digital Sovereignty Under Attack as Thai Accounts Exploit Google Maps
According to Google Maps policy, Google Maps uses machine-learning algorithms to scan contributions for signals of suspicious user activity. The platform “does not allow content that misleads users, misrepresents information, or is intended to deceive or deface a place”.
However, Ngeth Moses, a reporter issuer, described Google’s system as “broken”, failing to detect and prevent abuses such as offensive languages.
“Despite having policies to prevent putting offensive languages on the platform, Google Maps system allowed offensive phrases. This means that the system failed to detect offensive languages in the first place,” Moses said during the report launch event on September 6.
In response, a Google spokesperson told Kiripost that it had “removed the policy-violating edits, implemented protections to prevent future abuse and are monitoring the situation closely”.
However, when asked to provide details on the specific measures implemented to prevent similar incidents—given that Google’s system initially failed to detect these policy-violating edits—the company did not reply.
