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More than 200 complaints have been made against a television program, Headliner, for allegedly smearing the police's efforts to fight Covid-19.

The Office of the Communications Authority is probing the incident after receiving a series of complaints over the past three days, according to the commerce and economic development bureau.

"As RTHK's editor-in-chief, the director of broadcasting is responsible for making the final editorial decisions in RTHK and is accountable for editorial decisions taken by RTHK program producers," a bureau spokesman wrote in a reply to the media yesterday. He said the office will give an account to the public afterwards.

This follows a letter of complaint from the police public relations branch to the Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing, chief editor of Radio Television Hong Kong, on Saturday expressing its "utmost regret" that a Headliner episode aired on Friday had mocked police efforts and implied they were stockpiling a surplus of protective gear.

An RTHK spokesman said Monday that the station "understands the hard work of the police" during the epidemic but added Headliner offered a satirical perspective based on "different voices in the society."

The RTHK Programme Staff Union on Monday urged the police to face public criticism and respect the station's editorial independence.

Heat mounts in police-RTHK fight