[Insurance Industry] The Insurance Regulatory Authority Strictly Crack Down on "Clickbait" Insurance Posts, Citing Misleading Practices in Dividend Products, and Listing Six Principles for Social Media Promotion

The Insurance Authority (IA) has expressed serious concerns in its latest regulatory communication regarding the promotional tactics used by insurance intermediaries and companies on social media, pointing out that some posts are “clickbait,” deliberately creating unbalanced and misleading content, particularly concerning participating products with non-guaranteed returns.

Common misleading traps:

• Cherry-picked achievement rates: Only showing the achievement rates for the first one or two years of the policy while ignoring later performance.
• Illusion of exponential growth: Using charts to exaggerate non-guaranteed returns without mentioning potential risks.
• Improper comparisons: Directly comparing insurance products to bank deposits, highlighting only the return rates.
• “Personal testimony” tactics: Selling under the guise of personal purchasing experiences while neglecting the professionalism required to assess insurance based on individual needs.

The IA emphasizes that it does not accept the separation of “one post discussing benefits, one post discussing risks.” Every social media post must independently comply with all conduct regulations and present product information fairly and balanced.

Six principles for social media promotion

To ensure the continued professional development of the insurance industry, the IA has outlined six principles that intermediaries must adhere to when promoting online:

• Fair, clear, and non-misleading;
• Providing balanced views, ensuring that protections and benefits are not more prominent than risks and significant exclusions (and must include the latter);
• Presenting in clear language that clients can understand;
• Providing sufficient information to help clients understand and make fully informed decisions;
• Targeting customers who belong to the applicable customer group for that policy;
• Complying with the social media policies of the principal (insurance agents/agencies/brokers).

Last year received 1,173 complaints, an increase of 20% year-on-year

Additionally, the IA received a total of 1,173 complaints in 2025, an increase of 195 cases or 19.9% year-on-year; complaints in the first half of the year rose by 33% year-on-year and then dropped in the second half. “Conduct” (26%), “business or operations” (25%), and “data presentation” (19%) remain the main categories of complaints. The annual figures are roughly similar to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, considering that the insurance market continues to expand, with total gross premiums in the first three quarters of last year reaching HKD 637 billion, an increase of 12.35% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, indicating that the complaint trend remains relatively mild.

Message to intermediaries to demonstrate ethics and professionalism, prioritizing clients’ best interests

The IA urges the industry that insurance intermediaries must demonstrate ethics and professionalism in every action, prioritizing transparency and the best interests of clients, for the insurance industry in Hong Kong to continue to thrive.

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