The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," it said.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement declared: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-administered authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the potential to undermine the significantly high degrees of credibility that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
