I had always though the difference was an assertion of the speaker's values: HK protesters are cooperating to stand up for their rights vs The Phoebus cartel is

I had always though the difference was an assertion of the speaker's values: HK protesters are cooperating to stand up for their rights vs The Phoebus cartel is colluding to the disadvantage of consumers. But maybe there is an objective detectable difference, perhaps related to defection reluctance. It would be great if there is some additional force at play that differentiates between them.