Embodiments of this application disclose a BIER packet processing method. The method includes: receiving, by a first network device, a first BIER packet sent by a second network device, where the first BIER packet carries a device identifier of the second network device; obtaining, by the first network device, a device identifier of a third network device based on a correspondence between the first BIER packet and the third network device; and when the device identifier of the second network device is the same as the device identifier of the third network device, discarding, by the first network device, the first BIER packet; or when the device identifier of the second network device is different from the device identifier of the third network device, sending, by the first network device to the third network device, a second BIER packet generated based on the first
BIER packet.