The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our probe concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of confidence that audiences would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and wording are determined."
