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

This money will settle a lawsuit with 48 U.S. states.

The lawsuit was about child safety on Instagram and Facebook.

The company will also make age checks stronger.

It will limit users under 18 to two hours a day.

It will block them from the apps between midnight and 6 a.m.

Meta will hide "like" counts too.

Most new safety features will be turned on by default.

These rules apply only in the U.S.

They will last for 10 years.

Critics say the settlement is a step forward, but it is not enough.

Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering director, called it a "significant milestone."

But he warned that Meta still decides what counts as harm.

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

Josh Golin heads the nonprofit Fairplay.

He said the deal focuses too much on giving parents tools.

It does not turn off harmful algorithms by default.

Meta has agreed to improve its age-verification technology.

Outside audits will check how well it works.

The settlement includes specific goals for false positives.

These are cases where minors are wrongly identified 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 section is "reasonably good."

He said it includes measurement and independent testing.

Some safety features will still be opt-in.

For example, users can choose to turn off video autoplay.

They can also choose to see posts in chronological order.

Researchers have found that many past Meta protections were ineffective.

Yaël Eisenstat is a former Meta employee.

She is now policy director at the Cybersafety Research Center.

She said the settlement is "monumental" because it shows safer designs are technically possible.

She added that no single fix will solve everything.

More work is needed.

The settlement still requires approval from a judge.