French court allows dating site to continue ‘selling’ infidelity

DATING site Gleeden can keep singing the praises of cheating, a French court has ruled in throwing out a complaint from a federation of Catholic families that the site’s business model is immoral and illegal because it encourages extramarital affairs.

A Paris civil court said that promoting infidelity in advertisements was not unlawful because adultery was not a criminal offence in France and that cheating on one’s spouse was a private matter.

“It is a victory of freedom of speech over religious bigotry,” Caroline Mecary, the lawyer for Gleeden, said.

“The plaintif f sought to use le gal proceedings to promote a reactionary and conservative vision of the couple and the family, but the court was not fooled.”

Mecary said the case was the first of its kind to be brought to a French court.

Gleeden, a website founded by two French businessmen in 2009 with headquarters in New York, is mainly for married women and men looking to date other married people.

It claims to be a world leader in the market of online extramarital dating, with a presence in more than 150 countries.

The National Confederation of Catholic Family Associations had asked the court to ban Gleeden from referring to extramarital relations in its communications, and to say that the contracts between the website and its 3-million users were unlawful and void, which would have hampered the very activity of the dating site.

The French Catholic association had accused Gleeden of helping people commit adultery and break one of the obligations of marriage.

The dating site was also seen by the group as promoting “anti-social behaviours” for business purposes.

But the court ruled that the federation was not eligible to file a complaint because the legal issues around infidelity only could be raised within a private marital relationship, and because cheating on one’s spouse did not always rise to a civil violation.

“The reference to infidelity cannot be characterised as unlawful action since the breach of the duty of fidelity does not necessarily constitute a fault,” the ruling said. Gleeden says its users are responsible adults and t hat no advert i s e ments or websites can c o nv i n c e people to cheat on t heir spouses if they are not already willing to do so.

“The site addresses demands, but doesn’t create them,” the company said in its pleadings.

Mecary said the federation’s complaint showed a willingness to undermine France’s traditional secularism.

“What would have been said had the complaint been filed by an association of Muslim families?” she asked.

The Catholic association, which claims 35 000 families as members, has yet to decide whether to appeal against Thursday’s ruling.

Its lawyer, Erwan Le Morhedec, said he thought there were legal grounds for an appeal.

“Freedom of speech, especially in the advertising field, has legal limits,” he said in a telephonic interview.

Le Morhedec s ai d Gleeden, through its business activity, sought to impose its owners’ views about family on public opinion when “duplicity, deceit and lies” did not need to be promoted. – AP