Google Calendar Changes: A Shift Towards Default Public H...

Google has confirmed alterations to its default Calendar events, sparking backlash from some users who noticed that certain events, including Pride month, Black History Month, Indigenous People Month, Jewish Heritage, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Hispanic Heritage, are no longer highlighted by default. Some users have criticized the move as a 'capitulation to fascism.' Google, however, provides a different explanation for the changes, citing scalability and sustainability concerns.

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Users' Reaction to Changes

The removal of certain events from the default Google Calendar has led to a wave of angry responses from users. Many users feel that the move is a step back from acknowledging and celebrating a diverse set of cultural moments and observances.

Google's Explanation

Google has responded to the criticism, explaining that the changes were made in an effort to maintain scalability and sustainability. The company stated that it had been manually adding a broad set of cultural moments from various countries, but found this process was not scalable or sustainable. Therefore, in mid-2024, Google returned to showing only public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com globally, while allowing users to manually add other important moments.

The Role of timeanddate.com

Google has been working with timeanddate.com for over a decade to show public holidays and national observances in Google Calendar. However, timeanddate.com has not responded to requests for comment on the recent changes.