Meta has agreed to pay $18 billion over 10 years.

It will settle a lawsuit with 48 U.S. states.

The lawsuit is about child safety on Instagram and Facebook.

Meta will also make age checks stronger.

Users under 18 can use the apps for two hours a day.

They cannot use the apps from midnight to 6 a.m.

Meta will hide "like" counts.

Most new safety rules will be the default.

These rules are only for the U.S.

They will last for 10 years.

Critics say the settlement is a step forward.

But they say it is not enough.

Arturo Béjar is a former Meta engineering director.

He called it a "significant milestone."

He warned that Meta still decides what harm is.

He said the two-hour limit does not fix the addictive design.

The content recommendations are still addictive.

Josh Golin is the head of Fairplay.

Fairplay is a nonprofit group.

He said the deal gives parents tools.

But it does not turn off harmful algorithms by default.

Meta has agreed to improve its age-check technology.

Outside audits will check how well it works.

The settlement has goals for false positives.

False positives are when minors are wrongly seen as over 18.

If a user is removed for being under 13, Meta will check the ages of that user's friends.

Béjar said the age assurance part is "reasonably good."

It has measurement and independent testing.

Some safety features will still be opt-in.

For example, turning off video autoplay is opt-in.

Showing posts in order of time is opt-in too.

Researchers found that many past Meta protections did not work.

Yaël Eisenstat is a former Meta employee.

She is now policy director at the Cybersafety Research Center.

She said the settlement is "monumental."

It shows safer designs are possible.

She added that no single fix will solve everything.

More work is needed.

The settlement still needs a judge's approval.