Google Calendar Deletes Black History Month, Pride and Other Cultural Events

Google has for years used its popular online services to remind users about cultural events, marking its calendar app with occasions such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month.

Last week, some users noticed that the popular app was no longer displaying those observances, as well as a litany of others, prompting an online backlash from some users who saw it as another sign that Google was turning against more liberal viewpoints.

But Google said it removed the calendar observances in the middle of last year for apolitical reasons. Maintaining hundreds of moments manually each year for various countries “wasn’t scalable or sustainable,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement.

The belated uproar happened as Google and other big technology companies appeared to be reacting to conservative complaints that their products and policies are biased. Just last week, Google eliminated its goals specifying how much diversity it wanted in its work force, saying that as a federal contractor, it had to comply with President Trump’s executive orders opposing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The Calendar controversy followed decisions by Google and Apple to change the Gulf of Mexico’s name to Gulf of America in their map applications after Mr. Trump ordered the name change.

Google executives also said on Wednesday that they would stop offering diversity training programs and update other training efforts that have D.E.I. content, The Guardian reported.