A method for forward error correction (FEC) includes obtaining information on a type of a current frame, where the current frame includes a key frame and a non-key frame; determining a coding redundancy of the current frame according to the type of the current frame and a redundancy coding strategy, where the coding redundancy of the key frame is greater than that of the non-key frame; and using the determined coding redundancy to generate an FEC code for the current frame. The method is applicable to circumstances where FEC is performed for media data of various coding formats.