The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme 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 the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The authority's statement said: "Our probe determined that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the risk to undermine the significantly high levels of confidence that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and language are determined."
