Efforts by the fundamentalist Christian party SGP to get rid of a website which encourages people to be unfaithful to their partners have resulted in more people registering on the site, the NRC reported on Tuesday.

But suggestions the publicity has led to a 55% rise in paying members – who shell out €35 a month to contact potential partners – are not true, the paper said.

Website SecondLove has existed for five years and includes some 410,000 profiles of people seeking an extra-marital relationship. The SGP, which believes the Netherlands should be governed according to strict Biblical principles, has been campaigning against the site for some time, saying it undermines marriage.

Parliament

The party has raised the issue in parliament and in August, the youth wing complained to the advertising standards commission in an effort to stop the site promoting itself. That complaint was rejected.

The ensuing publicity has led to a 55% increase in registrations over the past year, the Telegraaf said earlier this week.

However, most of those are for free listings with no right to make contacts, according to the NRC’s research. According to the site’s owner Erik Drost, ‘fewer than half’ the 410,000 profiles are paid for.

Meanwhile, the SGP says it has had 500 messages of support for its campaign against the website.