Society of Authors and Harris defend stance on threats and free speech after author criticism

The Society of Authors and its chair Joanne Harris have defended their stance on freedom of speech and protecting writers who are suffering threats following criticism from authors including J K Rowling and an open letter calling Harris’ position "untenable".

Amid the calls from some for Harris to quit, hundreds of writers have now signed a rival open letter supporting the SoA chair.

Harris sparked criticism over the weekend after tweeting a Twitter poll in the wake of the attack on Salman Rushdie, asking authors if they had “ever received a death threat (credible or otherwise)”. The choice of answers, later changed by Harris, were “Yes”, “Hell, yes”, “No, never” and “Show me, dammit”.

Some users of the social media site said the “flippant” poll was inappropriate in the light of the gravity of the attack, while others accused it of mocking Rowling, who received a death threat on the social media site following her own comments on Rushdie.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Harris rejected the criticism as a “stunt”, saying the poll had “nothing to do with J K Rowling”. “I am wholly against threats of any kind, to anyone, regardless of their politics, opinions or views,” she said. “That includes J K Rowling, or anyone whose opinions I might sometimes disagree with.”

She added: “Some of you may have noticed the volume of harassment I get on a regular basis from certain gender critical people. This is entirely because I signed a letter supporting trans rights three years ago. I still support trans rights. The same people are behind this latest stunt.”

However, in comments to the Times on Tuesday (16th August), Rowling said that Kate Quarmby, a member of the society’s management committee had previously brought attention to death threats made to Rowling in 2020 and 2021 and asked for the SoA to condemn them. Quarmby said this did not happen.

Rowling told the paper: “Harris has consistently failed to criticise tactics designed to silence and intimidate women who disagree with her personal position on gender identity ideology and has said publicly, ‘Cancel isn’t a dirty word. We habitually cancel things we no longer want’.

“I find it impossible to square the society’s stated position on freedom of speech with Harris’ public statements over the past two years and stand in solidarity with all female writers in the UK who currently feel betrayed by their professional body and its leader.”

On 16th August, an open letter to the SoA was published on writer Julie Bindel’s Substack. The letter expresses “our deep disquiet and anger at the Society of Authors’ abject failure to speak out on violent threats towards its members, and the behaviour of Joanne Harris… on Twitter”.

It also points to death threats received by authors Gillian Philip, Rachel Rooney, Julie Bindel, Onjali Rauf and Kate Clanchy, claiming the SoA had “failed to come to their defence” and claims the SoA has been "captured by gender ideologues who brook no debate and who are not prepared to support authors who fall foul of online bullies".

The letter, which has been signed by Rooney and Philip, alongside around 50 people including authors such as former Children’s Laureate and previous SoA board member Anne Fine, Elizabeth Buchan, John Boyne and Amanda Craig, goes on: “It is now time for the Society of Authors to live according to its principle, clearly stated in the Where We Stand section of its website, of ‘protecting free speech’ and opposing ‘in the strongest terms any attempt to stifle or control the author’s voice whether by censorship, imprisonment, execution, hate speech or trolling’. It should go without saying that this opposition should not be contingent on individual members of the board of management’s political agreement with the person under attack, and for this reason we believe Joanne Harris’ position as chair of the management committee is untenable."

In response to the Times article, Harris tweeted: "I’ve always said loud and clear that I condemn threats of any kind, to anyone. That goes for people whose views I disagree with as well as those whose views I share. Free speech is for everyone, and when one person loses it, we’re all at risk.

“Yes, I support trans rights. I also have a son who came out as trans a few months ago. But my personal feelings about the gender-critical movement don’t affect my belief in free speech, or what I do for the Society of Authors.”

Harris said one of the “main agitators” who wanted her removed was supported by the society last year while another with “views antagonistic to mine” had also been helped to get compensation when she was dropped by her publisher following comments on social media.

She added: “J K Rowling has every right to her opinions. I may not share them, but that’s fine. And I totally condemn any threats to her, as I do to anyone. I think the literary world can do better than this fabricated culture war, and that’s what I’m trying to do.

“Sometimes, it’s exhausting. But just because I won’t take your side, or join your hashtag, or be in your gang, doesn’t mean your rights won’t be fought for as fiercely as anyone else’s. Because rights are more important than politics. We’re all in this together.”

Harris received support from others on the social media site, while an open letter in her defence has been launched by Melinda Salisbury and had racked up around 200 signatures by this morning (17th August), including authors like Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Juno Dawson. It states: "Ms Harris has, since her appointment, been a stalwart, fair, dedicated, and passionate chair, who has frequently gone above and beyond her role as chair to champion all authors, to acknowledge and speak out on authors’ concerns, to patiently answer questions, and advocate for the rights of authors, and who has also used her personal Twitter platform to offer writing advice, stories, and support to the many thousands of people who follow her. She is, in our opinion, the best person for the job, that’s why we voted for her."

Online, some criticised the discussion itself, with writer Frances Coppola – who has also signed the letter in support of Harris – saying it was "disrespectful" to Rushdie, who "is a man fighting for his life not because of trans activism or gender-critical beliefs but because of Islamic extremism".

A spokesperson for the SoA – which condemned the threat against Rowling in its statement on Rushdie this week – said the society consistently supported the rights of all authors to “hold and express opinions, and we condemn violence and the threat of violence unequivocally”. However, they said the organisation does not get involved in individual debates or disputes between writers, nor does it usually speak out on individual cases of bullying, trolling or personal attacks. “We will always provide private support for authors targeted, both emotional and practical, such as corresponding with publishers,” they said.

The spokesperson also pointed out the organisation is a democratic body with a transparent structure of governance. They said: “The management committee is elected via an annual ballot of all full SoA members – so it directly represents our membership – and the management committee elects the chair. Joanne was unanimously voted in by the current committee to take on the role for a second term in March this year.”