From 2013, an English-language newspaper based in Rome, "The Italian Insider", made several allegations of nepotism and corruption within FAO and reported on poor management-staff relations. In June 2018, FAO and four of its officials took the paper and its editor, John Philips, to court alleging defamation, using a law dating back to the fascist era in Italy. Reporters Without Borders condemned "the disproportionate nature of the defamation proceedings", for which the newspaper was liable for a fine of up to Euros 100,000 and the editor at least three years in prison. The case was adjourned until January 2019, when it was further adjourned until May 2019. The January hearing was considered by the British satirical magazine "Private Eye" to have been "one of the more surreal courtroom scenes in modern times", involving dispute as to the meaning of an English slang word used by the "Insider".