LEV522 It is forbidden to speak negatively about another person even if what one says is entirely true. The term that Chazal used to refer to such speech is “lashon hara.” (If one mixes some falsehood into his words, then he enters the category of motzi shem ra, a slanderer, and his transgression is far worse.) Someone who speaks lashon hara violates the negative commandment of לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation (Vayikra 19:16), for lashon hara is also considered “talebearing.”