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Google Maps mistakenly shows ‘McCain Senate Office Building’

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Capitol is seen from the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2014.

WASHINGTON >> Google Maps isn’t waiting for the Senate.

Lawmakers are debating a proposal to rename a Senate office building after the late Sen. John McCain, but Google Maps already displays “McCain Senate Office Building” on its website.

A search for “Russell Senate Office Building” directs users to the same building today.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed renaming the Russell building in McCain’s honor after the Arizona Republican died Saturday from brain cancer. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he’ll form a bipartisan panel to solicit ideas on ways to honor McCain.

Google said today it was working to fix the problem. The company said in a statement it empowers people to contribute local knowledge to its maps, “but we recognize that there may be occasional inaccuracies or premature changes suggested by users.”

The mix-up comes as President Donald Trump has accused Google and other U.S. tech companies of rigging search results about him “so that almost all stories & news is BAD.” Trump offered no evidence of bias, but a top adviser said the White House is “taking a look” at whether Google should face federal regulation.

Today, Trump reiterated his complaints, telling reporters he thinks Google, Facebook and Twitter “treat conservatives and Republicans very unfairly.”

“I think it’s a very serious problem because they’re really trying to silence a very large part of this country and those people don’t want to be silenced,” Trump said.

But when asked whether he wants to see new federal regulations imposed on the companies, Trump, who often brags of his record slashing federal regulations, said that wasn’t what he’s after.

“You know what we want? Not regulation. We want fairness. When we have fairness we’re all very happy,” he said.

Google has pushed back sharply on Trump’s claims.

“We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment,” the company said in a statement.

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