Woke wars: Edinburgh’s computer scientists banned from using ‘Alice and Bob’ as too ‘Western’

Staff also urged to avoid ‘master/slave’ terminology as part of University of Edinburgh’s latest decolonisation efforts

The names Alice and Bob should not be used, computer science lecturers have been told, in the latest decolonisation drive at the University of Edinburgh.

The top-flight Russell Group university’s school of informatics claims there are “problematic issues related to computing terminology”.

Staff should “avoid using predominantly Western names such as Alice/Bob, as is common in the computer security literature”, according to internal documents seen by The Telegraph.

In cryptography and digital culture, Alice and Bob are a fictional couple widely used as placeholders to illustrate how protocols and systems work.

The terms “master/slave” to represent computing agents are also being discouraged in the faculty’s courses, with staff urged to “instead use coordinator or workers”.

It forms part of intensifying decolonisation efforts at the institution, which has formed a steering group of academics to identify “controversial elements of the university’s past” so that “reparatory recommendations” can be made.

On Saturday night, a former education minister branded the moves “preposterous” and a “tyrannical” attempt to police thoughts.

The faculty, which runs various computer science courses, said it “must challenge and rework the current pedagogy (approach to teaching), which was rooted in imperial and colonial ideas about knowledge and learning”.

Lecturers in the faculty have been asked to consider whether there is “any terminology used in the course that can be offensive or exclusionary”, to spotlight the work of “under-represented pioneers” and ensure case studies are “diverse”.

In a recent review of decolonising actions taken in informatics, course leaders said they were “instructing markers to not penalise grammar/English issues in the coursework” to increase diversity.

Senior managers are also carrying out an “inclusivity impact assessment” of any new courses before they can be approved to ensure “every new course will have to explicitly consider decolonisation”, the documents said.

Sir John Hayes, the chairman of the Common Sense Group of more than 50 Tory MPs, said: “The distortion of language has been used by tyrants through time because when you distort language you begin to control thought.

“I will be writing to Edinburgh University to make clear that no public money ought to be spent on this kind of nonsense.

“The silent majority of people in the United Kingdom regard this as the pedantics of those people who spend too much time in a common room and not enough in the real world.”

The latest decolonisation drive comes after the University of Edinburgh renamed the David Hume Tower because activists dug out comments the Scottish enlightenment philosopher made about race in the 18th century.

And earlier this year an Edinburgh social anthropology lecturer, Dr Neil Thin, was subject to a lengthy disciplinary probe – and cleared – after students complained about his “problematic” views, notably his opposition to the renaming decision.

The two incidents prompted staff to call for Edinburgh’s principal, Prof Peter Mathieson, to step down, alleging an “intolerant and illiberal” culture hostile to free speech on campus.

Academics at Edinburgh have told this newspaper that they feel “alienated” by the university’s decolonisation. They claim it is “predicated on the bizarre assumption that only white people are racist” and riddled with inconsistencies that ignores countries accused of modern-day rights abuses, such as China.

A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “As an institution we are committed to addressing contemporary and historic inequalities with respect to race and our schools are aware of this. In this case the school have developed guidance to ensure that materials produced reflect the diverse and international nature of our community.”

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