[rsynnott]

> The article says that the Culture intervenes in places that don't quite live up to their values or are otherwise problematic in some way.

In practice, they mostly intervene against people with, like, slavery and death camps, not minor philosophical differences (or even pretty major ones; many civilisations run artificial afterlives of eternal torment for their people, and the Culture doesn't openly intervene against _that_). A number of breakaway ex-Culture cultures show up in the books, along with various Culture dissidents.

[tivert]

> many civilisations run artificial afterlives of eternal torment for their people, and the Culture doesn't openly intervene against _that_

Key word: openly.

[rsynnott]

It can probably be assumed that the Culture does meddle to some extent with the Elench, Peace Faction and other ex-Culture offshoots, too.