It is still not clear to me what these people actually want?

This entire letter just sounds like prominent figures whining about people criticizing them online. https://twitter.com/MattWelch/status/1280489578336567297

Like, what is their proposed solution to a widespread, inchoate "spirit of censoriousness"? It's like complaining about no one saying "excuse me" when they bump into you anymore.

This is such bullshit. Each of these examples is a subtweet of a real case, each of which is far more complicated than how it's being summarized here. Even presenting these in plural makes them seem simpler and more widespread than they are.

I could be wrong, but I'm reading this as a reference to "American Dirt," which:
a) was not withdrawn
b) was the no. 1 book in America for many, many weeks
c) was a work of literature. Did the author expect it not to be reviewed?

I have no fucking clue what this one is subtweeting but journalists have ... always been barred from writing about certain things?

I completely agree that online harassment has gotten out of control. But it's appalling that high-profile figures would single out harassment by SJW-types as if it exists in a category all on its own.

Should people send death threats to JK Rowling? No. Other than internet randos, no one is saying that's OK.

But if the real issue here is online harassment, why wouldn't you mention Leslie Jones and Anita Sarkeesian? Or Ijeoma Oluo getting fucking swatted?

This entire project is aimed at people without any power. If the shittiness of online discourse really concerns you, then push platforms for better moderation. Get police to investigate threats.

But that is transparently not what this is about. It is first and foremost about defending the right of powerful people (James Bennet, JK Rowling, Tom Fucking Cotton?!) to state odious views in public while maintaining the fiction that they're not the villains.

Also notable how many of these signatories spent the last month scolding activists for the “strategic error” of using the slogan Defund the Police. These same people are now reinforcing one of the most important tropes of the far right.