"Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information."

The descriptions above may not be familiar to UK Internet users, but to users in countries like China, use of the Internet is, shall we say a more restricted experience that it could (should?) be. Human Rights group Amnesty International agrees.

Expected to speak out at the forthcoming ISPA Awards Ceremony this week, Amnesty International UK Campaigns Director Tim Hancock will call on both users, and ISPs alike to "keep alive the things that have made the internet great - its democracy, its freedom and the way it gives people access to knowledge and the opportunity to participate and be heard ... Businesses whose operations impact on freedom of speech bear no less responsibility for upholding human rights standards than other industries."

More information available at the Amnesty Internation's irrepressible.info compaign website.