The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to broadcast a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the corporation to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The regulator's report declared: "Our investigation found that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's parent served in a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of credibility that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
