Google was once known for capturing the cultural and commemorative moments of the year, representing the multi-cultural staffing and userspace, traded in its calendar platform’s acknowledgments, for silence. Immense time is spent on the popular search engine’s app by millions of users and the company decided to remove many honorific months and holidays from the calendar in mid-2024. Notably, marginalized groups continue a low roar on social media in retaliation for these removals; coincidentally in poor timing with the absence of March’s honor, Women’s History Month, Google’s silence fails to show up for nationally recognized observances.
Questioning whether this is full fraud yet? To better understand how Google has not only overlooked women but also silenced many others recognized throughout the year, we must examine how tech giants continue to erase these observances through passive yet significant deletions.
By removing various holidays, both nationally and internationally recognized, Google’s decision to eliminate these uplifting celebrations without any due reason stands out against the political tensions during the shift in the U.S. presidency. After Donald Trump’s executive order to end all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts and government programs, along with several impulsive yet politically charged decisions to restore insensitive names to national landmarks, Google has followed suit by erasing Denali in favor of “Mount McKinley” and adopting the controversial “Gulf of America” labeling. These changes don’t feel all too sudden as Google continues to be swayed by political power, and people continue to lose the representative efforts made in recent years.
A Google spokesperson emphasized that the removal of many observances was purely a practical decision, stating that maintaining them “wasn’t scalable or sustainable” anymore. They explained that the volume of national and international observances was a hefty load on the team, and they were previously working alongside timeanddate to manage all of the holidays and features on the platform.
Although Google once prioritized recognizing a variety of observances, that commitment has faded in recent years. The company has now removed several significant observances from its official Google Calendar, including, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Indigenous Peoples’ Month and Holocaust Remembrance Day. While the full impact of this decision remains to be seen, it’s clear that Google has taken subtle steps toward aligning with recent political orders, potentially to maintain federal funding benefits for future projects.
No matter the spin, it is clear the changes should not be taken lightly, especially during a month celebrated for decades to uplift women. The public can’t help but question why the sudden change. With tech giants swarming together in photo ops with politicians, the lines continue to blur between their influence and the public’s access to information and media. Today, despite major efforts to erase the recognition of various historical moments, peoples, and places, it seems almost comical to watch the major takedowns of Google Calendar, wondering if this is just a surface-level strain on staff, or something more deliberate.