Strong measures to curtail "revenge porn" and online bullying are upheld in California. A new bill has now armed the judiciary and the police to take stricter actions against these crimes, where punishment includes having fines and jail time.

The governor of Califiornia has signed Senate Bill 255, authored by State Sen. Anthony Cannella, which specifically deals with criminalizing acts related to spreading "nude images" and other lewd content.Uploading a nude image of another person without his consent is now considered a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail or $1000 in fine or both.

The bill covers all forms of electronic communication, including e-mails, telephones, cellphones, computers, Internet Web sites and smartphones. The measure is timely amid the growing concern of online bullying of young girls, which in some instances have resulted to suicides.

Another possible instance is when a person posts nude images and videos of a partner after the relationship gets sour. This is called "revenge porn," the Web sites hosting such material claim protection from prosecution as it is difficult to monitor the user's uploaded content.

Earlier, a 15-year-old girl from California had reportedly committed suicide in September 2012, after a video was shown online with three boys sexually assaulting her. The girl has passed out after being drunk at a party.

Similar cases have been reported across the U.S. Parents are alarmed and sought to prevent these online abuse. Some parents reportedly tried to stop the online harassment or bullying by deleting their child's online account. But this has often led the child to only become more isolated.

The Internet is a powerful tool for young children to connect with friends like never before. They share content like images and videos at an astounding rate. Click here to read how Google plans to connect the globe via Internet using balloons.

Young children, having access to the Internet, get on to social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Some have to face harassment due to inappropriate images being uploaded online.

The onus was so far on the social media platforms like Facebook to take action against the perpetrators of such crimes. The new bill gives additional teeth to law enforcement agencies to track down the abusers and let them face possible consequences of their actions.