To enable the effective investigation of complaints by the CA, members of the public who would like to lodge a broadcast complaint to the CA should do so as soon as possible and in any event within three weeks after the concerned materials are broadcast.

Materials on the Internet, irrespective of their sources, are outside the regulatory ambit of the CA. Any complaint against such materials is not a broadcast complaint and hence will not be processed. For the sake of proper use of resources, fairness and to enable the effective investigation of complaints, if a broadcast complaint is lodged without provision of any valid contact information (for example, email or correspondence address) rendering the acknowledgement in writing inaccessible and any further enquiry for additional written information impossible, the broadcast complaint will not be processed.

When lodging a complaint, you are required to provide sufficient and concrete information about the complaint, such as the title of the programme/advertisement/other broadcasting material, name of the broadcast station and channel, actual broadcast date and time of the broadcast, a brief description of the relevant contents, allegation(s), etc. In view of the large amount of materials being broadcast to the public, complainants should provide sufficient and concrete information to enable the CA to identify the broadcast material under complaint. Complaints without sufficient and concrete details for identification of the broadcast material concerned cannot be further processed.

You may lodge a complaint about any television or radio broadcast material by -

  1. mailing or faxing the complaint to the CA (Download Complaint Form) (PDF); or
  2. sending an email using the Complaint Form

Complaints should ordinarily be lodged in English or Chinese. However, the CA recognises that certain members of our community, such as those from ethnic minority backgrounds, may need interpretation facilities to access our services. Please refer to OFCA’s website at https://www.ofca.gov.hk/en/contact_us/support/index.html for details of the arrangements which have been made.

Please note the following points when lodging a complaint about broadcast contents.

  1. Broadcast contents are regulated by the codes of practice issued by the CA after consultation with the public and the licensees. The programme codes set out the standards to be observed generally in programmes, including matters such as taste and decency, portrayal of sex and violence, use of language, and protection of children, etc. Please refer to the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards and the Radio Code of Practice on Programme Standards for details.

    The advertising codes deal with standards for the presentation and content of advertisements and programme sponsorship. Advertising should be legal, clean, honest and truthful. All sponsor involvement must be declared so that the viewer/listener knows who is funding the programme. Please refer to the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards and the Radio Code of Practice on Advertising Standards for details.
  2. Subject matters which are not regulated under the Broadcasting (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 391), the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562), Part 3A of the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106), the terms or conditions of a broadcasting licence, or the CA's codes of practice are outside the remit of the CA. Examples of these subject matters are as follows:-
  3. If you want to lodge complaints on subject matters outside the remit of the CA, you can send your views directly to the concerned broadcasters. Contact details of broadcasters are as follows:-