Sri Lanka to use social media to help draft new constitution

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, announced on Sunday, January 17, that officials would use social media to seek public opinion on a proposed new constitution aimed at preventing a return to ethnic war. Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka will use social media to help draft the new statute to devolve more powers to minority Tamils and ensure unity after decades of war. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter played a key role in supporting Wickremesinghe’s election in August as well  during the January 2015 presidential election at which he supported Maithripala Sirisena. Since coming to power, the new government has set up free wi-fi zones in many public places to encourage the use of web-based services.