Meta will pay $18 billion and rebuild how teens use its apps — a win for parents and regulators, and barely a scratch for the company's finances.

• Meta settled child safety claims brought by 48 states, agreeing to a two-hour daily limit for teens that only a parent can lift.
• Apps will shut off overnight, mute notifications during school hours, hide like counts, kill autoplay, and offer a non-algorithmic feed.
• Only 70% of the money gets paid unless TikTok and YouTube adopt similar limits, putting pressure on both rivals.
• Investors shrugged — the stock rose on the news, since the payout is small next to Meta's data center spending.
• Florida refused to join and plans to fight in court, and Meta still faces other lawsuits.

Outlook: Expect TikTok and YouTube to face the same demands, while the fight over whether these protections should extend to adults is just starting.