LEV454 Above, we cited from the poskim that the Torah forbids one to believe derogatory information that people say about others. The same halakhah applies when one knows that the information he heard is true, but it could be interpreted in two possible ways, and the speaker interpreted the information in a negative light, which led him to disparage the subject. In such a situation, it is clearly a mitzvah for the listener to judge this subject favorably (which is a decisive halachah in the Gemara in Shevuos [30a], and a positive Torah commandment according to many poskim and refrain from accepting the speaker’s derogatory interpretation. If the listener violates this commandment by failing to give the subject the benefit of the doubt, and he concurs with the speakers disparaging words, then not only has he transgressed the commandment of בְּצֶ֖דֶק תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט עֲמִיתֶֽךָ, “Judge your fellow favorably” (Vayikra 19:15), but he is also considered to have believed lashon hara, since his failure to judge the subject favorably automatically resulted in his acceptance of the disparaging words.