It's International Women’s Day today, but Apple and Google seem to have silently erased it from their Calendar apps. X (formerly Twitter) is buzzing with comments as users call out the tech giants for wiping the day from their digital schedules. A quick check confirms what users are saying—International Women’s Day is missing from both Apple and Google Calendar apps.
X is flooded with claims that Apple has also removed Women’s History Month from its Calendar app in the U.S. and several other countries. Google has reportedly done the same. This move has triggered backlash, with many speculating that it’s linked to the U.S. government’s push to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in big tech. Google previously removed Black History Month and Pride Month from its calendar, so for many, this latest decision is frustrating—but not surprising.
Users on X have pointed out the missing event from the apps:
AnX user, Grace Petrie (@gracepetrie), tweeted saying, "It’s bad enough that Apple has removed International Women’s Day, Pride Month, and other minority community dates from their calendar. But it’s especially rich considering they never once let me forget to observe the Battle of the Boyne."
Another user, Sherele Moody (@ShereleMoody), echoed the frustration. She said,"Yep. They did. Apple and Google just removed International Women's Day from their calendars. Apparently, we're not important enough.”
So far, neither Apple nor Google have addressed the backlash or explained their decision.
Google has been in hot water for this before. When it removed Pride Month and Black History Month from its Calendar app, the company justified the decision by saying it had manually added cultural celebrations, teachers’ days, and other events worldwide. But after receiving complaints about missing events and countries, Google claimed it was no longer feasible to include hundreds of moments in everyone’s calendars. Instead, it now only includes public holidays and national observances sourced from timeanddate.com.
Google’s internal policies have also shifted. Fiona Cicconi, Google’s HR chief, previously announced that the company would no longer set specific hiring targets for DEI, citing its role as a federal contractor and recent U.S. court rulings and executive orders as factors influencing the shift.
Trump’s push against DEI
After winning the US Presidential elections, Trump made it clear that his administration would take a hard stance against DEI initiatives. "My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense—and these are policies that were absolute nonsense—throughout the government and the private sector," Trump said at the World Economic Forum.
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