Updated

The family of a teacher killed in the Sandy Hook school massacre has applied to trademark her name in an attempt to stop others from misusing it on social media.

Victoria Soto was a first-grade teacher and one of 26 people shot to death inside the Newtown, Connecticut, school in December 2012.

Jillian Soto says people have set up fake social media accounts using her sister's name, many of which promote conspiracy theories about the massacre.

She says 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 teachers.

She says the family hopes a trademark will make it easier to have unauthorized pages removed from the Internet.