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Criminal law and social media experts say they believe the case reflects the growing use of the Internet among teenagers for increasingly destructive acts.

They also say it shows police and prosecutors may be trying to send a strong signal that the victimization of young women won’t be tolerated.

Robert Currie, a professor of law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said police have hesitated to prosecute such cases in the past, preferring a stern lecture and a warning. He cited a case in December 2011 where police responded to the distribution of photos of naked young people at a high school in Sydney, N.S., by speaking to parents and launching an extensive education campaign.

“What this might indicate is we have more willingness to charge,” he said. “The perspective police had been taking up to this point was to try to educate.”

Wayne MacKay, an expert on cyberbullying and also a law professor at Dalhousie University, said police may be partly motivated by the case of Rehtaeh Parsons. The 17-year-old Halifax girl died in hospital after hanging herself in April.

Her parents say she was sexually assaulted by four boys in 2011 and a photo of the alleged incident was passed around her school.

“I think one of the factors in the background is the high profile of the Parsons case and the fact the police were criticized for not going as far as they should in that case,” said MacKay.

Police originally said there was insufficient evidence to lay charges in the Parsons case, but their investigation was reopened days after the girl’s death when they said they received new and credible information.