The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"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 timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's announcement stated: "Our probe found that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's father served in a post in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the significantly high amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
