The BBC was found to have committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a evening declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement declared: "Our probe found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's father held a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "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 BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
