Sandy Hook Teacher's Family Wants To Copyright Name Due To Social Media Abuse
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The family of a teacher killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has applied to trademark her name -- in an attempt to stop others from misusing it on social media.
Victoria Soto was a 27-year-old first grade teacher at the school, who authorities have said hid students and tried to shield others from the gunman who killed 20 children and six women who worked as teachers or administrators. Eleven students in her classroom survived when Adam Lanza opened fire in the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre.
Jillian Soto said people have set up fake social media accounts using her sister's name, many of which promote conspiracy theories about the massacre, and some of which are used to harass her and other family members.
``Vicki did a heroic thing, there are 11 kids that are alive today because of the actions of my sister,'' she said. ``And we don't need anything negative to be tied to her name any longer.''
She said the misuse of her sister's name also makes it harder for people to find links to the Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, which raises money for scholarships for aspiring educators.
Ryan Graney, who helps the Soto family run its social media sites, said every time an abusive or unauthorized Twitter account appears, she has to fill out a form and send it to the company. Twitter then does an investigation and determines whether the account violates the company's policies and should be removed.
She said the family applied for the trademark protection on Monday in the hopes of expediting that process.
``Now we can say, `Look they can't use this name, it has to come down right now,''' she said.
Twitter did not immediately respond to an emailed request seeking comment.
The Connecticut Attorney General's office said it has not received any formal complaints from Sandy Hook families about abuse on Twitter.
``We did follow up on complaints that families had made regarding Facebook pages, and did find Facebook to be responsive to our concerns,'' said spokeswoman Jaclyn Falkowski. ``We would encourage families to contact our office about problems they're experiencing on Twitter so that we might be able to offer our assistance.''
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