The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes 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 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the risk to erode the significantly high amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was pulled from the online platform in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
