Fact-Check: Has Google changed Adiala Jail’s name to Imran Khan Jail?

Social media is packed with posts claiming that Google Maps has labelled Rawalpindi’s Central Jail aka Adiala Jail as ‘Imran Khan Jail’.

On July 25, a user on X (formerly Twitter) claimed that Google had changed the name of Adiala Jail (where former Prime Minister Imran Khan is detained) to show its association with the PTI head. The post included a screenshot allegedly showing the jail’s location with the caption “Adiala Jail (Imran Khan).”

This post has been viewed nearly three lakh times, reposted 6,800 times and liked 19,000 times.

What is the reality?

Information technology experts have debunked the claims and confirmed that Google Maps has not named Adiala Jail after the former prime minister.

Asad Baig, executive director and founder of Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD), an Islamabad-based non-profit organization working for media literacy and development, told Geo Fact-Check that the online claims were “false” and Google doesn’t take political positions.

Asad added, “Google Maps relies on various methods for labelling sites. One of which is user-generated labels or ‘user contributions’. Often, individual users may send misleading or incorrect information, which other users can correct by using the ‘report a problem’ feature.”

Google’s response:

A response from Google following the report’s publication on August 5 explained that users can provide information in Google Maps. The platform’s automated systems and trained operators monitor suspicious behaviour and their policies and act to remove any infringing content quickly.

Google further clarified that the “incorrect name” in question has been removed, and safeguards implemented on the listing to prevent additional edits that violate the policy.

This indicates that Google itself did not change the name of Adiala Jail to “Imran Khan Jail”.