The UK government on Tuesday said that it will be suspending the use of a digital tool to process visas amid a legal challenge that claimed it amounted to “racism” as the computer algorithm discriminated against applicants on the basis of nationality by design.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and digital rights group Foxglove, which had initiated the Judicial Review challenge against the system in the High Court in London in June, celebrated the suspension of the artificial intelligence (AI) based Streaming Tool, which will take effect from Friday.

“We have been reviewing how the visa application streaming tool operates and will be redesigning our processes to make them even more streamlined and secure,” a UK Home Office spokesperson said.

“We do not accept the allegations Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants made in their Judicial Review claim and whilst litigation is still ongoing it would not be appropriate for the department to comment any further,” the spokesperson said.

From Friday, the current Streaming Tool will no longer be used, with a redesign expected to be in place in a few months’ time by autumn.

In the interim period, the Home Office said the streaming or sifting of the “overwhelming majority” of visa applications will take place by reference to person-centric attributes, such as evidence of previous travel, and nationality will not be taken into account.

The Streaming Tool is said to have used a traffic-light system to grade every entry visa application to the UK since 2015.