HaLeivi – like it or not, this is the project of R’ Mattisyahu and Skulener Rebbe, they’ve been working on it for months.
Before the internet, kids always had places to go find “bad stuff” if they wanted to. They weren’t there in droves, so that obviously is not such a big problem (I’m talking about what causes issues, not where one could go if they already have an issue.) Clearly the main problem is the availability in the homes. Now if everyone had a filter, why is there such a problem ? Yes, you can bypass passwords etc, but you can control access to your computer etc, and yes, there are still plenty of kids not so knowledable in computers.
The situation is such that many people just don’t understand the problem. People think it wouldn’t happen to their kids etc.
This asifa will serve to convince everyone that unfiltered internet is simply a no-no. They will be concinced to get filters, understand it or not. The big, public nature of the event is both for chizuk, and to make a mass impression. People will realize that this is what is being done, and stop rationalizing. They will finally start to get educated about proper internet usage. And this will go a long way towards helping the problem.
The issues of making yidishkeit appealing etc. mentioned on this thread still stand, of course.