Question:
If a married man is arrested for…. and it’s on the news and I tell someone about it but don’t say any names they go on their own and look for the name on-line was I over saying loshon hara if yes how do I do teshvah on it
Answer:
Information that is known to everyone, is technically not lashon hora, therefore even though he looked it up, you weren’t transgressing lashon hora. Regardless, the information should still not be spread. The reason is because such a story is embarrassing to Hashem, that a frum person did something wrong. Imagine a father whose child did a crime, even if many people know about it, he still doesn’t want others gossiping about it, because talking negative about a person’s child is embarrassing to the father.
Kesiva vchasima tova
