Musar על שמות 23:2

“You shall not follow the many to do bad.” (Exodus 23:2). We were warned with this not to verbally strengthen the hands of sinners, and not join with those that conspire to do injustice - like the matter that is stated (Isaiah 8:12) “You must not call conspiracy, all that people call conspiracy.”

This is why our Rabbis described Torah as דין from beginning to end. There is also the incident recorded in Baba Kama 99, in which Rabbi Chiyah refunded money to a woman who claimed that he had erred in evaluating a certain coin, though according to all the rules of trade and commerce there was no need for him to do so. Concerning such situations the sages said תורה תחילתו דינין וסופו דינין. This means that there are two attributes called דין. This is the attribute of Justice which G–d had intended to use as a yardstick originally, before He began creating the universe. Afterwards, He decided to apply מדת הדין הרעה (perhaps best translated as the "painful" attribute of judgment). This is why G–d ordered the judges (through the Torah), to perform their tasks in a manner similar to that of Himself. G–d inclines towards a lenient view whenever this is possible. Hence the Torah tells us לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעות, Exodus 23,2, that when there is a slim majority of one favouring a verdict of "guilty," such a majority is not enough, though it would be good enough to return a verdict of "innocent" (23,2).

Juxtaposed with this is (23:2): "Do not incline after many [wicked men] for evil." The commentators explained this to mean that even if one sees that many have habituated themselves to a certain sin he should not follow them. And so, in our instance. Even if one sees that many of his friends and acquaintances stumble in this sin of lashon hara, he should not be enticed into following them.