STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A Swedish court on Tuesday ordered two girls to pay hefty damages for defaming and insulting other teenagers on photo-sharing site Instagram.

The Gothenburg district court ordered the pair, who are both minors but whose ages were not disclosed, to pay 570,000 kronor (S$107,900) in damages, or 15,000 kronor to each of the 38 plaintiffs.

Part of the sum was to be paid by the parents, it said in a statement.

Between December 16 and 18, the two published a slew of photos of students in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, accompanied by captions that were offensive and sexual in nature.

Many of the victims took to the streets to protest the remarks, resulting in rowdy manhunts at two schools where students believed they had found those responsible for the Instagram account. One school had to be closed for the day.

After an investigation lasting several months, the perpetrators were identified as two secondary school students aged 15 and 16, according to news agency TT.

Only one of the accused confessed to the charges.