Google Maps' Excuse for Falsely Showing Rebuilt Palisades Right Before Election
Google Maps faced criticism for displaying outdated satellite images of the Pacific Palisades, obscuring the damage from a recent fire just before the Los Angeles mayoral election. The company attributed the issue to a technical glitch, which has raised suspicions about its timing and intent. This incident has reignited concerns about Google's influence on elections and its credibility in reporting errors.
- ▪Google Maps showed old satellite images of the Pacific Palisades, hiding fire damage before the June 2 election.
- ▪The company claimed the issue was a technical glitch triggered by a routine update.
- ▪Critics have accused Google of manipulating information for political optics, especially regarding the mayor's slow rebuilding efforts.
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| Original publisher | PJ Media |
| Canonical URL | https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/05/19/google-maps-claims-error-after-falsely-showing-rebuilt-palisades-before-election-n4953016 |
| Publication time | Tue, 19 May 2026 11:12:00 -0400 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-19T15:19:57.686Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-19T15:22:38.876Z |
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Google Maps' Excuse for Falsely Showing Rebuilt Palisades Right Before Election Catherine Salgado | 11:12 AM on May 19, 2026 Photo credit: Jennifer Van Laar Google Maps’ recent scandal — imposing old satellite images of the Pacific Palisades over the area on its maps, hiding the arson-caused devastation just before the Los Angeles mayoral election — has gotten so big that the tech giant actually responded. But Google is refusing to acknowledge anything but a supposed “technical issue.” Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display("div-gpt-300x250_3"); //googletag.pubads().refresh([gptAdSlot["div-gpt-300x250_3"]]) }); How coincidental that this technical issue occurred in the run-up to the June 2 election, and that it happened to make the Palisades specifically look as…
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