The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's father occupied a role in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
