An electronic device sends a help seeking advertising packet on a BLUETOOTH Low Energy advertising channel in response to a user operation, where the help seeking advertising packet carries emergency help seeking information. In this application, the electronic device can send the help seeking advertising packet based on Bluetooth low energy, so that a user can seek timely and effective help from another nearby user. When encountering danger, the user can also send the help seeking advertising packet even if there is no cellular network, to ensure safety of the user.