Is following an entertainment program that relies on mocking and criticizing others considered participation in sin and backbiting, and would I be sinful for doing so, and what is the duty regarding this widespread phenomenon?

It is not permissible for the program host to mock the owners of the pictures, as mockery is forbidden in Islamic law, based on the words of the Almighty: "O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them." If he mentions faults that exist in them, it is backbiting (ghibah), and if they do not exist in them, it is slander (buhtan), which is worse than backbiting.

It is not permissible for a Muslim to watch these programs because they imply approval and endorsement of evil, and are considered a sin and participation in wrongdoing. It is obligatory to warn Muslims against watching them because they promote evil.