Police began investigating earlier this month after Rowling, 57, was sent a threatening message on Twitter when she posted her support of Sir Salman Rushdie. A user had written “don’t worry you are next” in response to her tweet about the author, who had been stabbed on stage in New York.
Speaking to Graham Norton on Virgin Radio, Rowling, who has also been criticised for her views on transgender rights, said: “Social media can be a lot of fun. But there’s no doubt that social media is a gift for people who want to behave in a malign way.”
Author Joanne Harris became embroiled in a Twitter row after she “liked” a series of tweets mocking JK Rowling only hours after she denied taking a swipe at her by organising a poll asking writers if they had received “credible” death threats.
Harris, 58, chairwoman of The Society of Authors, was accused of downplaying the threats Rowling received over Rushdie and 125 authors signed an open letter calling on the society to depose her.
Insisting her poll “had nothing to do with JK Rowling”, she deleted and reposted it without “credible”.
Harris, who penned the 1999 novel Chocolate, responded: “JK 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.”