The term 'black market” should be banned because it's racist, banking leaders say

4 August 2023, 11:37

Banking leaders have called for a ban on certain ‘non-inclusive’ phrases - including the terms ‘black market’ and ‘sanity check’.

Guidance from the UK Finance lobby group says the language should be axed to avoid racial bias or discrimination.

‘Black market’ should be replaced with ‘illegal market’ to avoid racial bias and ‘sanity check’ should be replaced by ‘functional test’ so as not to ‘infer a level of disability’, the group suggests.

The cyber security term ‘black hat’ - a phrase meaning a hacker, would be replaced with ‘unethical’.

Man-in-the-middle' - a term used to describe a cyber attack - could be seen as gender biased, the guide says. Instead 'network interception' should be used.

The phrase ‘dummy’ should be replaced by the term ‘beginner,’ the guide says.

A spokesperson for UK Finance said: “Two years ago we issued a report in conjunction with EY and Microsoft that looked at the issue of language in technology and cybersecurity.”

It comes after a new inclusivity guide for City Hall banned employees from using the phrase “ladies and gentlemen” because it excludes non-binary people.

According to the Sun, describing migrants as 'illegal' is not allowed and they must now be referred to as people with 'insecure immigration status' or 'undocumented'.