To view Wattpad’s DSA Transparency Report for the reporting period of February 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025, click here: Wattpad Corp. DSA Transparency Report (February 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025)
This Transparency Report is shared with Wattpad’s users in the EU, as required by the EU DSA. However, please note that the statistics provided in the report reflect Wattpad’s global activities.
Date of report and article: February 27, 2026
Back to topThe EU Digital Services Act (DSA) creates a uniform legal framework for providers of digital services to users in the EU. In order to create a safe, predictable, and trustworthy online environment, the DSA aims to create a single set of rules across EU Member States governing the transparency and accountability obligations of online platforms.
Wattpad shares the European Commission’s commitment to addressing the issue of harmful online content, and we have been working to comply with all applicable provisions of the DSA. Within the framework of the DSA, Wattpad will continue to work on ways to provide a positive experience, building on our transparency measures to further our goal of creating a safe and positive space online.
Back to topPlease use the following contact method based on your location and organization:
Regional Inquiries (EU): If you are located in the EU and have questions regarding this DSA Information, please email us in English at dsa@wattpad.com or write to:
Law Enforcement: To ensure a faster response, law enforcement agents should copy (CC) lawenforcement@wattpad.com on their correspondence.
Wattpad’s Terms of Service require users to abide by various policies regarding content on Wattpad.
These include our Code of Conduct, [Content Guidelines] and Community Standards. These policies are clear and designed to be easy to understand by all our users. These policies are available in multiple languages (in an effort to represent a majority of our users).
Wattpad has a dedicated Trust & Safety team working 7 days a week, 365 days a year, who moderate all content and conduct violations on the platform based on the law and our [policies. In addition, Wattpad leverages multiple technologies to automate moderation. While Wattpad employs automated tools to help detect and action violations, human reviewers process appeals to correct any potential machine errors.
Back to topa) Reporting and Review
Users can easily report potentially illegal content or policy violations using the 'Report' button found on every story and profile. Users can find our dedicated articles about reporting content policy violations here: Reporting Content or Conduct Violations on Wattpad.
If any individual believes that content on Wattpad infringes their copyright or other intellectual property rights, please see our articles here: Reporting Intellectual Property Violations on Wattpad.
Reports are securely logged in our internal review system, where our specialized Trust & Safety team carefully assesses them before taking appropriate action.
Once reported, our moderation agents review the content to determine if it should remain visible, be marked as mature, or be removed. If we determine that content violates our guidelines or may violate the law, we will remove or restrict it. When we take action, we will notify the affected user with a communication as to why the decision was made.
Wattpad additionally adheres to Canadian Law that governs ISP’s reporting requirements. In addition, where Wattpad becomes aware of information giving rise to a suspicion that a criminal offence involving a threat to a person’s life or safety has taken place, or may take place imminently, Wattpad reports such information to local law enforcement where it deems it necessary and safe to do so.
b) Appeals
If any impacted user or reporter believes we've mistakenly taken action on their content, account, or made a mistake in processing their report, they can appeal Wattpad’s decision by following the process detailed below. An appeal can be made for six (6) months after the date on which the user is notified of the decision taken by Wattpad.
To submit an appeal:
In the Help Center, you can file an Appeal Request.
Please ensure you input the email address that is associated with the Wattpad account in question otherwise we will be unable to process your request.
Fill out all of the required fields accurately.
Please select if you are an EU or UK resident. This selection should only be made if you are located in the EU or UK. Requests received from outside these specific regions will be re-routed to the appropriate queue and may increase overall response time by Wattpad.
Please note that references elsewhere to Wattpad decisions being final or irreversible do not apply to moderation actions covered by the DSA. Users in the EU have the legal right to appeal moderation decisions under the DSA, as outlined above. In addition, Wattpad offers an appeal process to users globally, regardless of location.
If you are dissatisfied with our appeal decision, you have the right to select any certified out-of-court dispute settlement body in the EU to resolve the issue. We will engage with these certified bodies in good faith as required by law.
Back to topWattpad’s Recommender and Ranking Systems encompass the following:
a) Non-personalized recommender systems:
On home page:
Within the Home section, the recommender system aims to identify popular, similar, trending stories that users may find engaging. They achieve this by analyzing engagement parameters such as:
total reading minutes
story length
daily readership
library additions
activity or engagement spikes
Additionally, the algorithm takes into account story attributes such as category, genres, and writer-specified tags.
On story details page:
When presented on a story details page, the recommender system aims to discover stories similar to the base story. To achieve this, it examines parameters like:
story genre and tag details tag vectors
interaction vectors (data tracking which other stories users read or interacted with in relation to the base story) story’s status (ongoing/completed, paid/free)
b) Personalised recommender systems:
There are multiple recommender systems working together to drive user engagement and personalise based on users’ reading history & action history. Some recommendation algorithms have a single objective while others have multiple.
These diverse recommender systems leverage a broad spectrum of parameters, including:
User’s reading history, examining stories started, ongoing, or completed.
User reading patterns, considering factors like dates of story engagement, percentage completion per story daily/weekly, etc.
User preferences inferred from their reading history or onboarded tags, such as favorite genres or preferred writers based on follows.
Story Interaction vectors to determine the next recommended read.
User’s search history and utilized search terms.
Real-time browsing patterns and user actions.
Story attributes like genre, reading time, user engagement metrics (number of readers, library adds), story success (badges or ranks), and whether it’s a Wattpad Original.
Education is a critical intervention to enhance safety on any online platform. Wattpad maintains 'Helpline and Supportive Resources' with the intention of connecting users in need with support services, as well as providing information to youth and parents/guardians on navigating online spaces safely This information can be found in our Policies and Safety Help Center: Safety Resources.
Back to topWattpad does not present ads to users in the EU based on profiling as defined in Article 4, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 using personal data of the recipient of the service when it is aware with reasonable certainty that the recipient of the service is a minor.
Back to topPursuant to Article 24(2) of the DSA, Wattpad provides the following information on the average monthly active recipients of its online platform in the EU.
For the period between February 01, 2025 through December 31, 2025, we have assessed the average monthly active recipients of our online platform in the EU to be 10,579,768. Comparatively, our Global average monthly active recipients for the same time period was 75,713,688.
This information has been prepared for Article 24(2) of the DSA. This information may differ from user metrics reported in other contexts and should not be used for any other purposes.
Wattpad will continue to monitor its online platform in the EU and will continue to publish updated information on the average monthly active recipients in accordance with Article 24(2) of the DSA.
You can view our previous transparency reports below:
DSA Transparency Report (Feb 17, 2024–January 31, 2025)
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