The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the BBC to air a statement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The regulator's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's father served in a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a media organization and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was pulled from the online platform in last February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
