Dozens of writers, actors, producers and journalists have come out in support of JK Rowling as she continues to face abuse and death threats over her criticism of transgender ideology.

In a letter to The Sunday Times, they say that the backlash against the Harry Potter author reflects "an insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic trend in social media".

"Rowling has consistently shown herself to be an honourable and compassionate person, and the appalling hashtag #RIPJKRowling is just the latest example of hate speech directed against her and other women that Twitter and other platforms enable and implicitly endorse," they said.

"We are signing this letter in the hope that, if more people stand up against the targeting of women online, we might at least make it less acceptable to engage in it or profit from it." 

Signatories of the letter include Atonement author Ian McEwan, Father Ted writer Graham Linehan, who was banned from Twitter over his criticism of transgender ideology, actress Frances Barber, and actor Griff Rhys Jones. 

Rowling has repeatedly used her Twitter account to challenge prevailing transgender ideology, including medical treatment for gender dysphoric young people, which she has said is pushing society to the "brink of a medical scandal". 

She was declared "dead" by opponents of social media after the release of her latest book, Troubled Blood, written under her pen name Robert Galbraith, which caused the hashtag #RIPJKRowling to trend on Twitter. 

The book is about male murderer with a fetish for women's clothing.