It was even more insidious than that. It wasn't about self-preservation or selfish need... they were so brainwashed they considered it good to tell on others as a matter of course. One of the secondary characters is even proud of his own children for turning him in for talking in his sleep.
Oma did all those things. They did none of it. She was literally the only one who ever did anything. All they did was ignore Oma and Anubis and Daniel.
Now when Morgan LeFey was trying to help the gang with the Ori, they gave her a proverbial bitch-slapping.
Though, really, their non-interference was basically an application of the Star Trek Prime Directive. Basically the same kind of thing we recommend when dealing with nature, make as little impact as possible. Its only as cruel as nature itself is cruel.
Who is the cruelest fictional villain?
I’m not just talking cruelty in terms of their goals, but also how they went about achieving their goals