The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the corporation to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's father served in a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
