The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to air a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The regulator's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent served in a post in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the corporation's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
