"If you talked against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."

• "If you spoke against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."
• "If you railed against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."

The first sentence expresses opposition, while the second sentence specifically conveys a tirade—more emotive, vehement or denunciatory.

The phrasing talking against isn't idiomatic; related expressions include:

• talking past someone — talking to them in such a way that one is unable to understand or comprehend what is being said or speaking in a way that ignores, excludes, or fails to engage with them (perhaps by addressing different points or even assumptions);
• (in literary criticism) reading against a text — interpreting it in opposition to its surface meaning or even to authorial intent.

"If you talked against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."

• "If you spoke against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."
• "If you railed against the government, you’d be imprisoned or killed."

The first sentence expresses opposition, while the second sentence specifically conveys a tirade—more emotive, vehement or denunciatory.

The phrasing talking against isn't idiomatic; related expressions include:

• talking past someone — talking to them in such a way that one is unable to understand or comprehend what is being said or speaking in a way that ignores, excludes, or fails to engage with them (perhaps by addressing different points or even assumptions);
• (in literary criticism) reading against a text — interpreting it in opposition to its surface meaning or even to its authorial intent.