Is criticizing people in gatherings considered part of the critique and vindication of narrators?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: Is there any critique and vindication of narrators in our time, like what existed among the previous scholars? And what is your view of the one who says that there is no critique or vindication in this time, and that it ended in the time of the previous imams?

Answer:
The critique and vindication of narrators is one of the sciences of hadith. As for speaking in gatherings and insulting people, that is backbiting and talebearing. This is critique without vindication, so it is not permissible.