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 offspring of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to transmit a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the BBC to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's statement stated: "Our probe concluded that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent served in a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and language are determined."
