The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to transmit a peak-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent held a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of credibility that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
