The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The authority's announcement stated: "Our probe found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent held a position in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the significantly high amounts of credibility that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
