Digital sovereignty at risk: Cambodian landmarks targeted in Google Maps attacks

An alarming investigation by Cambodia’s Local Guides community has uncovered systematic digital harassment campaigns on Google Maps, revealing hundreds of offensive and fake locations targeting the country’s cultural symbols, tourist landmarks and border territories. This digital assault is particularly prominent along the Thai-Cambodian border, with a staggering 60 per cent of violations occurring in border provinces, and overwhelming use of Thai language in violation titles. According to the Google Maps Location Violations Investigation Report 2025, volunteers documented 568 problematic listings across 18 provinces, with 341 still active. Many of these locations carried insulting names in Thai script — accounting for 95 per cent of the violations — and were deliberately pinned to sacred sites such as the Royal Palace, the National Museum and UNESCO World Heritage site the Preah Vihear Temple.