JK Rowling: Edinburgh police to take 'no further action' after online Twitter threat towards Harry Potter author

After investigating an online threat made towards JK Rowling following the attack on Salman Rushdie, police will not take any further action.

The incident occurred on Friday, August 12 , after Rowling reacted to the news that fellow author Salman Rushdie had been stabbed in New York.

The Harry Potter writer posted: “Feeling very sick right now. Let him be okay.”

In reply to this, Twitter user ‘Meer Asif Aziz’ threatened the author, writing: “Don’t worry you are next”.

This threat was reported to Twitter and to police, however, neither has taken any action against the social media user.

After carrying out enquiries, Police Scotland officers discovered that the user was posting from outside of the UK, and so have decided to take no further action.

Twitter also launched an investigation, however, they ruled that the Tweet did not breach any rules.

Police began investigating earlier this month after Harry Potter author JK Rowling, 57, was sent a threatening message on Twitter when she posted her support of Sir Salman Rushdie.

It said: “After reviewing the available information we determined that there were no violations of the Twitter rules in the content you reported."

However, the author hit back at the platform, tweeting: “@TwitterSupport These are your guidelines, right?

"Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence...

"Terrorism/violent extremism: You may not threaten or promote terrorism..."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Following a report made to police on Saturday, 13 August, 2022 regarding an online threat, enquiries have been carried out into this matter and it has been established that it was made outwith the UK. Enquiries are now complete and there is no further police action at this time.”