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Twitter drops 'slave', 'master' and gendered pronouns in programming codes amid inclusivity drive

Bethany Clarke/Getty Images
Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

Twitter is dropping the use of words like "slave", “master”, and "blacklist” as well as gendered pronouns in its coding systems and company documents.

In a bid to be more inclusive, the social media platform said it would replace several words with "preferred inclusive versions".

Words like “whitelist” and “blacklist” will be swapped for “allowlist” and “denylist”.

Twitter also said it will stop using gendered pronouns, replacing “guys” with “folks” or “people” and using “they, them, their” instead of “he/him/his”.

Twitter’s engineering department announced the plans on Twitter saying: “Inclusive language plays a critical role in fostering an environment where everyone belongs.

“At Twitter, the language we have been using in our code does not reflect our values as a company or represent the people we serve. We want to change that.”

The terms in question are frequently used in source codes on the back-end of websites.

While “master" refers to the main version of code that controls the "slaves," or replicas, Twitter said that “leader/follower” would be used instead.

IT developers often use the work "Blacklist" to describe items that are automatically denied, such as forbidden websites.

Twitter bosses have also said they are implementing a browser extension for employees to identify the words in documents and webpages and “suggest alternative inclusive words”.

It comes after Google's Chromium web browser project and Android operating system urged developers to stop using "blacklist" and "whitelist".

Meanwhile, Stop Hate for Profit campaign has organised an advertising boycott on Facebook over alleged inaction on hate posts, with Unilever, Ford, Adidas, and Starbucks among the giants backing it.

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