The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-administered authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to damage the very considerable levels of confidence that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
