Today we concluded the positive mitzvos associated with Lashon Hara. In total there are 31 mitzvos one can eventually transgress when habitually speaking lashon hara though all 31 cannot be done at once.
#13
מדבר שקר תרחק – There is a positive
mitzva to stay far away from lying, even if it is just leaving out information
or not speaking up when you see something is going the wrong way and you
can fix it. Lying transforms loshon hara to an all new even worse problem
called motzie shem ra. This mitzvah only applies to the one speaking not the one
listening.
#14 והלכה בדרכיו – We have a positive mitzvah to emulate Hashem. Just as He is merciful you shall be merciful, just as He is gracious you shall be gracious. By definition Hashem’s attributes are only positive, He does not have any negative attributes. By being involved in the negtive attribute of speaking or listening to lashon hara you are not fulfilling the positive mitzva of emulating Hashem.