Questions on some of Gerald Anderson‘s pictures on Instagram with the hashtag “#secretplace” arose after some keen social media users noticed it was not originally taken by him in the first place.
Facebook user Mary Jeanely Bontilao shared that she got “curious” about the actor’s posts under the hashtag which consisted of artfully-taken pictures.
Although it appeared as if they were spontaneously uploaded, the pictures caught her interest to the point that she did a double-take.
Bontilao eventually found out that most — if not all — were lifted from different websites and taken by others. She decided to share her findings on social media and called him out.
Na curious lang ko aning "secret place" ni Gerald sa instagram kay lami kaayo ug mga captions. Ga imagine ra man diay!🙄Basta cheater pati mga posts, atik ra 😬
Posted by Mary Jeanely Bontilao on Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Anderson’s latest post bearing the hashtag was uploaded on June 13, 2018. It featured a wooden patio with two wooden chairs facing the mountains.
While the exact uploader or photographer of the picture cannot be determined, a quick Google search reveals it was shared on Pinterest and We Heart It prior as inspiration pegs by other people, among others.
Another post uploaded by the actor on April 14, 2018 featured a fallen log with the caption that reads, “Road to secret place.”
A reverse image search revealed it was actually taken by Jonathan Irish in a park in the United States.
Another post dated April 6, 2018 featured a picnic table with wine glasses for two.
Anderson didn’t have any particular caption except the mysterious hashtag. It was also “liked” by fellow actor Enchong Dee.
However, the picture was also uploaded to different image websites like Picbear and Picgra.
Another post dated Oct. 12, 2017, featured a picture of a vintage car’s dashboard while driving through autumn trees.
Anderson captioned it with “Driving to secret place” but a Google search revealed that it was found in We Heart It inspiration pegs, among others.
There are still other pictures that the actor uploaded with the same hashtag which were eventually traced to other websites. Here are some of them:
Posted by Mary Jeanely Bontilao on Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Posted by Mary Jeanely Bontilao on Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Social media users slammed him for posting the pictures without at least giving a credit to the original photographer or placing the link of the website where he supposedly got it from.
On reposting Instagram content
Instagram’s Terms of Use dictates that users must first ask permission from the original photographer or owner of an image before it is reproduced through a post.
Since the photo-sharing platform does not have the option to let users directly repost content from another account — unlike Twitter’s “retweet” button — certain steps can be done to properly attribute the picture.
A blogger and content marketer suggested that the user must reach out to the individual whose post he wants to reproduce.
“You can do this by commenting on the image and asking, or by sending them an Instagram Direct Message, which can be accessed by tapping the paper airplane icon in the upper right-hand corner of the app,” the article notes.
Ryan Garcia, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and co-author of “Social Media Law In A Nutshell,” shared that users can only repost a picture without permission when the platform actually allows it.
Otherwise, Instagram might request the user to remove the post or disable his account if he repeatedly commits what is considered copyright infringement.
