Critical Thinking Needed
Lessons from Social Media
I made a mistake yesterday. Ha! I make mistakes every day. However, this one stayed with me because I did some more research and found out that I had over reacted to a social media post. I bet you never do that.
Iranian Protests
I’ve been keeping the protests in Iran in the back of my mind. Every once in a while I will check with the news to see what’s happening. If you don’t know, in September Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd, died after a ‘violent arrest’ for infringing hijab rules and this led to protests that show no sign of ending. These protests, at first, were young woman and girls removing their headscarves in front of the police and marches against the repression of women.
I totally fell for this story when I read about it on Instagram Monday Nov 14 and it was only afterwards when I tried to find a way to protest and help change this, that I started to realize that I might have been had. I couldn’t find any news headlines about this number of sentences. Yes, there were too many Iranians that had been killed at the protests or after being arrested, but there was no reports that confirmed this post.
In fact, a day after I read about this, it has been fact checked as false.
Yes, an estimated 15,000 protesters have been arrested.
Yes, the Iranian government is cracking down hard on the protests.
Yes, one protester has been sentenced to death.
Yes, human rights organizations are concerned there will be many more.
Yes, the protests started over the murder of a young woman arrested because she wasn’t wearing her hajib correctly.
Yes, the Iranian government, religious police etc. are repressive and autocratic.
There is a lesson here for me and I wanted to share it with you. This lesson is relevant to responding to food safety issues as much as social media posts. This lesson is three simple steps:
Take a big breath. Don’t be reactive and don’t panic.
Take time to do your research and find out what is true. Ask questions.
If you are prepared and have a pre-written procedure, such as a corrective action plan, emergency plan, or a recall plan, follow the plan.
Today, to make sure I don’t post misleading information on my Instagram feed or elsewhere, I shall write a “reacting to social media” plan. Next time I see something posted like the post above, I can turn to my plan before sharing misleading information.
Today, you can read about food recalls on my blog, and start putting your recall plan together.
Who is Cathy Davies?
I write about the intersection of food science and food systems with an emphasis on food safety, food justice and resilience. I am concerned that climate disasters and changing weather patterns are affecting our ability to eat healthy, nutritious food.
I run a food safety consultancy, Food Safety Mid Atlantic, supporting specialty food businesses with their food safety plans and programs. If you are interested in learning more about my consulting services, please schedule a free call.
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Nice analogy, Cathy. Well done!