JK Rowling joins 150 high profile figures in open letter addressing the decline of free speech

JK Rowling affixed her signature alongside a roster of 150 high profile influence peddlers and public figures in an open letter expressing concerns over the rising "intolerant climate" for free speech.

The said letter was published in Harper's Magazine where the signatories have denounced a looming "vogue for public shaming and ostracism" and "an intolerance to opposing views."

Some of the leading figures on the list include Gloria Steinem, Garry Kasparov and Margaret Atwood.

Harry Potter book series author, Rowling, has been attracting a lot of criticism and has been under viral virtual attacks for her comments and musings on biological sex even though she has firmly denied being transphobic.

Although these leading influencers are supportive of a "needed reckoning" on the recent racial and social injustice protests, they are calling out a weakened norm of open debate which now only favours "ideological conformity."

The letter voices how "the free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted." It criticised the "swift and severe retribution" on public debate and how public figures suffer judgement for perceived transgressions of speech and thought.

It also stated, "more troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms."

"We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement."

New York Times op-ed contributors David Brooks and Bari Weiss were also among those who signed the letter. Coincidentally, its editorial page editor was removed after he published an opinion piece by Republican Senator Tom Colton.

The letter has since sparked online debates from social media users who view this as a mere response to loss of relevance on the part of the signatories, while others think it is an attack on trans rights activists.

On a surprising turn of events, one of the signatories, Jennifer Finney Boylan, US author and a transgender activist, recanted within hours after the letter was published.

She tweeted, "I did not know who else had signed that letter, I thought I was endorsing a well-meaning, if vague, message against internet shaming. I am so sorry."