These days, the atmosphere on Twitter, or rather X, seems quite unusual, doesn't it?

Recently, news broke that the European Union (EU) imposed a staggering fine of 206 billion won on X.

While it might seem like just a fine, looking into the details reveals significant implications.

The incident began with the blue 'check mark' that we often saw.

In the past, it was a promise that "this account is a trustworthy real celebrity or official organization," right?

However, after Elon Musk took over, he changed it to a paid service, saying, "Anyone can get it if they pay," which became the root of the problem.

The EU's perspective was sharp.

"People trust information based on that mark, but allowing it to be purchased for money has confused users," they stated.

In fact, fake news accounts began to display the blue check and act as if they were real, leading to increased confusion, and the EU labeled this as 'user deception.'

There are also financial issues involved.

They pointed out that X lacked explanations about how ads are shown and why certain ads are displayed to users.

The EU's stance is that "transparency in the advertising market is not an option but a necessity."

No company wants to spend valuable advertising money on a non-transparent platform.

As this controversy continued, advertisers began to pull back.

Even major players like Apple started to worry, thinking, "Advertising on X could damage our brand image."

From X's perspective, they pushed for monetization to generate revenue, but ironically, as the core element of 'trust' crumbled, their biggest source of income—advertisers—turned away.

It's like trying to beautify a house but accidentally damaging the pillars.

This fine situation is not just a matter of paying a few bucks and moving on.

Ultimately, it symbolizes that for a platform to survive, it must rely on people's trust.

While paid services and revenue generation are good, the moment they forget the essence of being a communication space, users are always ready to leave.

It will be interesting to see if X can overcome this hurdle and become a 'trusted platform' again.