JK Rowling and Salman Rushdie are among 152 writers and academics who have signed an open letter denouncing the so-called “cancel culture”.

Those who signed the letter have said they “applaud” recent protests for racial justice and greater equality, but added a “reckoning” has weakened tolerance of different opinions in favour of “ideological conformity”.

The writers and academics, including philosopher Noam Chomsky and The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood, go on to call Donald Trump a “real threat to democracy” before saying “resistance must not be allowed to harden into its own brand of dogma or coercion”.

“Cancel culture” refers to the online practice of showing opposition to an individual, usually a celebrity or public figure, who has expressed an opinion that is perceived to be offensive.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, the Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell and the British novelist Martin Amis also signed the letter, which continues: “The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted.

“While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.

“We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters. But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought.”

The letter, which was published on the website of Harper’s Magazine on Tuesday, also references editors who are being fired for “running controversial pieces” and professors being “investigated for quoting works of literature in class”.

It continues: “This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time.

“The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation.

“The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away.”

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has faced opposition over her tweets about transgender people.

She has criticised the use of the phrase “people who menstruate” and suggested that trans women could pose a threat to cisgender women.

She is also facing criticism after describing hormones and surgery for transgender people as “a new kind of conversion therapy”.

Canadian author Margaret Atwood faced a social media backlash in 2018 when she expressed concerns about the #MeToo movement and called for due process in the case of a former university professor accused of sexual misconduct.

The former US president Barack Obama challenged “woke” culture last year when he said calling people out on social media doesn’t bring about change.

He said: “I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making change is to be as judgemental as possible about other people.

“If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because ‘man did you see how woke I was? I called you out!'”

He added: “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far.”

The full list of people who signed the letter:

• Elliot Ackerman, US author
• Saladin Ambar, associate professor of political science at Rutgers University
• Martin Amis, British novelist
• Anne Applebaum, US journalist and historian
• Marie Arana, Peruvian author
• Margaret Atwood, Canadian author
• John Banville, Irish novelist
• Mia Bay, US historian
• Louis Begley, US novelist
• Roger Berkowitz, professor of political studies at Bard College
• Paul Berman, US writer
• Sheri Berman, professor of political science at Barnard College
• Reginald Dwayne Betts, US poet
• Neil Blair, literary agent
• David W. Blight, history professor at Yale University
• Jennifer Finney Boylan, US author
• David Bromwich, professor of English at Yale University
• David Brooks, American-Canadian political commentator
• Ian Buruma, professor of human rights and journalism at Bard College
• Lea Carpenter, US writer
• Noam Chomsky, US philosopher and political activist
• Nicholas A. Christakis, American-Greek sociologist
• Roger Cohen, British journalist and author
• Ambassador Frances D. Cook
• Drucilla Cornell, American philosopher
• Kamel Daoud, Algerian writer
• Meghan Daum, American author
• Gerald Early, American essayist
• Jeffrey Eugenides, US novelist
• Dexter Filkins, US journalist
• Federico Finchelstein, Argentinian historian
• Caitlin Flanagan, US writer and social critic
• Richard T. Ford, professor of law at Stanford Law School
• Kmele Foster, US commentator
• David Frum, American-Canadian commentator
• Francis Fukuyama, US political scientist
• Atul Gawande, US surgeon and writer
• Todd Gitlin, American sociologist
• Kim Ghattas, Lebanese journalist
• Malcolm Gladwell, Canadian journalist
• Michelle Goldberg, American blogger and author
• Rebecca Goldstein, American philosopher
• Anthony Grafton, US historian
• David Greenberg, professor of history and journalism at Rutgers University
• Linda Greenhouse, US journalist
• Rinne B. Groff, US playwright and performer
• Sarah Haider, American-Pakistani writer activist
• Jonathan Haidt, American social psychologist
• Roya Hakakian, Iran-born writer
• Shadi Hamid, American author
• Jeet Heer, Canadian author
• Katie Herzog, podcast host
• Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College
• Adam Hochschild, US author and journalist
• Arlie Russell Hochschild, US author
• Eva Hoffman, Polish writer and academic
• Coleman Hughes, US writer
• Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute
• Michael Ignatieff, Canadian author and academic
• Zaid Jilani, journalist
• Bill T. Jones, US choreographer
• Wendy Kaminer, American lawyer and writer
• Matthew Karp, historian at Princeton University
• Garry Kasparov, leader of the Renew Democracy Initiative
• Daniel Kehlmann, German novelist
• Randall Kennedy, American law professor
• Khaled Khalifa, Syrian novelist
• Parag Khanna, Indian-American specialist in international relations
• Laura Kipnis, American cultural critic
• Frances Kissling, US activist
• Enrique Krauze, Mexican historian
• Anthony Kronman, professor at Yale University
• Joy Ladin, American poet
• Nicholas Lemann, professor at Columbia University
• Mark Lilla, American political scientist
• Susie Linfield, social and cultural theorist
• Damon Linker, US writer
• Dahlia Lithwick, Canadian-American writer
• Steven Lukes, British political and social theorist
• John R. MacArthur, American journalist
• Susan Madrak, Philadelphia-based writer
• Phoebe Maltz Bovy, US writer
• Greil Marcus, US author
• Wynton Marsalis, American trumpeter
• Kati Marton, Hungarian-American author
• Debra Maschek, New York-based scholar
• Deirdre McCloskey, professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago
• John McWhorter, US professor at Columbia University
• Uday Mehta, American political scientist
• Andrew Moravcsik, professor at Princeton University
• Yascha Mounk, American-German political scientist
• Samuel Moyn, professor of law and history at Yale University
• Meera Nanda, Indian writer and historian of science
• Cary Nelson, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Olivia Nuzzi, political reporter at New York Magazine
• Mark Oppenheimer, staff writer at the Christian Century
• Dael Orlandersmith, American actress and poet
• George Packer, US journalist
• Nell Irvin Painter, American historian
• Greg Pardlo, American poet
• Orlando Patterson, Jamaican-born American historical and cultural sociologist
• Steven Pinker, Canadian psychologist
• Letty Cottin Pogrebin, US author
• Katha Pollitt, American poet and critic
• Claire Bond Potter, political historian
• Taufiq Rahim, senior fellow at the New America Foundation
• Zia Haider Rahman, British novelist
• Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Jonathan Rauch, American author and journalist
• Neil Roberts, political theorist
• Melvin Rogers, professor of political science at Brown University
• Kat Rosenfield, pop culture and political writer
• Loretta J. Ross, African-American academic
• JK Rowling, British author
• Salman Rushdie, British Indian novelist
• Karim Sadjadpour, Iranian-American policy analyst
• Daryl Michael Scott, professor of US history at Howard University
• Diana Senechal, teacher and writer
• Jennifer Senior, author
• Judith Shulevitz, American journalist
• Jesse Singal, Brooklyn-based journalist
• Anne-Marie Slaughter, American politician scientist
• Andrew Solomon, American writer
• Deborah Solomon, American art critic and biographer
• Allison Stanger, political scientist
• Paul Starr, professor of sociology and public affairs
• Wendell Steavenson, American journalist and author
• Gloria Steinem, US writer and activist
• Nadine Strossen, US civil liberties activist
• Ronald S. Sullivan Jr, law professor at Harvard Law School
• Kian Tajbakhsh, Iranian-American scholar
• Zephyr Teachout, US attorney and author
• Cynthia Tucker, American journalist
• Adaner Usmani, assistant professor of sociology and social studies
• Chloe Valdary, American writer
• Lucía Martínez Valdivia, professor of English and humanities at Reed College
• Helen Vendler, American literary critic
• Judy B. Walzer, American academic administrator
• Michael Walzer, US political theorist
• Eric K. Washington, historian and author
• Caroline Weber, American author and historian
• Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
• Bari Weiss, American writer
• Sean Wilentz, professor at Princeton University
• Garry Wills, American author and journalist
• Thomas Chatterton Williams, American cultural critic
• Robert F. Worth, US journalist
• Molly Worthen, journalist and historian of American religion
• Matthew Yglesias, American blogger
• Emily Yoffe, US journalist
• Cathy Young, Russian-born American journalist
• Fareed Zakaria, American journalist

Chechens in Europe have expressed renewed fears for their safety, after a strident critic of the Kremlin-backed Chechnya leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot dead in Vienna on Saturday.

“Everyone is scared. We all left to find safety and forget about home, and they find you and shoot you like a dog,” said a Chechen man who has received asylum in Austria and asked to remain anonymous, shortly after attending a wake for the dead man in Vienna on Monday afternoon.

Saturday’s attack was the latest in a string of brazen killings of critics of Kadyrov, or Chechens with a background in the anti-Russian insurgency, in locations across Europe. It was the fourth violent attack on Chechens living inside the European Union in the past year, three of which ended in murder.

Austrian police have named the victim as 43-year-old “Martin B”, but Austrian media, as well as friends and associates, identified him as Mamikhan Umarov, who was widely known online as “Anzor from Vienna”. He posted foul-mouthed tirades against Kadyrov on YouTube.

Umarov was shot three times on Saturday near a shopping centre on the outskirts of Vienna. Austrian police later apprehended a suspect, also a Chechen man, in the town of Linz. Another Chechen is also in custody. Both have lived in Austria for many years, according to prosecutors. A spokesman for the prosecutors’ office said it had not yet been established whether there was a political motive behind the killing.

In a statement on Monday, Austrian police said the victim had declined police protection, though did not specify when, or why it was offered. A friend of Umarov’s, a Chechen man living in Austria who asked to remain anonymous, said Umarov had in fact agreed to have a 24-hour police patrol stationed outside his house in order to protect his wife and children, after reporting a credible threat on his life in recent months.

“If you went to his house, the police would check your documents, they were always there. But he didn’t want personal security, he turned it down. I told him that it was dangerous, that it was crazy he was going around on his own,” said the friend.

Umarov told friends he left Chechnya in 2005, fearful of attacks against those like himself who had worked in the structures of the briefly independent Chechnya in the late 1990s, before Russia reasserted control after a brutal bombing campaign and installed Kadyrov’s father as head of the republic.

Kadyrov took over in 2007 after his father was killed in a bomb attack, and has been accused of rights abuses, torture, the rounding up of gay men, assassinations of rivals and critics, and revenge attacks on their family members. He has denied the allegations, though frequently makes public threats against his enemies.

Umarov was reportedly given the new identity Martin Beck when he received asylum in Austria, and claimed to be working as an informant for the Austrian security services. He was a witness in the murder in Vienna in 2009 of Umar Israilov, who fled Chechnya and made allegations about Kadyrov’s personal involvement in torture.

“Anzor met with people who came from Chechnya who wanted to plan hits and recorded them, and then handed the recordings over to Austrian intelligence. He claimed he had been working with them for the past decade,” said the friend.

In recent months, Umarov had gone public, posting a series of foul-mouthed monologues on his YouTube channel, criticising Kadyrov. In one video, recorded outside Bratislava airport, Umarov spends several minutes insulting Kadyrov in obscene terms, calling him “the head prostitute of Chechnya” and insulting his parents. He also dared Kadyrov to find him and kill him.

The Chechens targeted in Europe appear to break down into two broad categories: some are outspoken anti-Kadyrov bloggers, while others have a history of supporting the insurgency, which morphed over the years from an independence movement into a more Islamist organisation that used terrorist methods.

In the latter cases, such as the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin last August, Russian federal forces may be involved. Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen origin who had fought against Russian forces in the early 2000s, was shot dead in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten. German authorities accused the Russian government of being behind the hit and expelled two Russian diplomats.

In cases where the victims are noisy critics of Kadyrov, the evidence trail seems to point towards Grozny rather than Moscow. In January, 44-year-old blogger Imran Aliev, known as Old Mansur, was murdered in a hotel room in Lille. He had been stabbed repeatedly in the neck.

A few weeks later, the well-known Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov reportedly attacked in Sweden, but was able to overpower his attacker. He posted a video online of him standing over the bloodied body of his assailant. “They have my mother,” the man said, when questioned. A year before, the head of the Chechen parliament, Magomed Daudov, known as Kadyrov’s right-hand man, had publicly declared a “blood feud” against Abdurakhmanov.

On Monday, Abdurakhmanov dedicated an episode of his popular video blog to the murder of Umarov. “Nobody was surprised by this. It angered us, it saddened us, but it didn’t surprise us. Everyone understands clearly why he was killed and who is responsible,” he said.