The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The authority's statement stated: "Our investigation found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's parent served in a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of credibility that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
