Google Calendar has recently come under scrutiny after users observed the removal of several cultural observances, including Pride Month, Black History Month, Jewish Heritage, and more, from its default settings.
In response to the criticism, Google spokesperson Madison Cushman Veld has provided an explanation for the update (via The Verge).
According to Veld, for over a decade, Google has collaborated with timeanddate.com to display public holidays and national observances in Google Calendar. However, in an effort to be more inclusive, the Calendar team began manually adding a broader set of cultural moments across various countries.
Over time, Google received feedback highlighting the omission of certain events and countries, making the manual maintenance of hundreds of moments globally unsustainable. Consequently, in mid-2024, Google reverted to showing only public holidays and national observances sourced from timeanddate.com, allowing users to manually add other significant moments as per their preference.
This decision has not been well-received by all users. Some have labeled the move as “shameful,” accusing the platform of capitulating to external pressures.
The removal of these observances has been perceived by some as aligning with broader trends of tech companies appearing to favor conservative policies, especially following the U.S. president’s anti-diversity executive order. The change has also reignited debates over tech companies’ shifting stance on diversity initiatives.
Critics argue that by removing these significant cultural events, Google diminishes the importance of these observances and the communities they represent.
The timing of this update, amidst broader rollbacks on diversity initiatives in the tech industry, has further fueled concerns about Google’s commitment to inclusivity.
The company has suggested that users who wish to commemorate these cultural moments can manually add them to their personal calendars.
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Thats good finally no more LGBT+++ crap.
Maybe Google can ease off censorship of YouTube? High time we have open conversations about topics we care about.
Newsflash : people can debate and have different opinions without killing each other. I didn't say all people 😇