LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 30, 2026--
Viking ® ( www.viking.com ) (NYSE: VIK) today announced it has been named to TIME’s 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies list, which recognizes companies making an extraordinary impact around the world. Viking was recognized in the “Disrupters” category, highlighting companies that are redefining industries and challenging conventional approaches. Viking was also named to the TIME100 Companies: Industry Leaders list for Travel & Tourism, which highlights the 10 most influential companies shaping the sector in 2026.
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“To be recognized by TIME as one of the world’s most influential companies is an incredible honor,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking. “Ever since our humble beginnings in 1997, we have always done things differently in the travel industry. We focus on the destination, and we do not try to be all things to all people. We are proud that our contrarian approach continues to resonate with our guests, the industry and prestigious publications like TIME, as we continue to grow thoughtfully and stay true to what makes Viking different.”
To assemble the list, TIME polled its global network of contributors and correspondents, as well as outside experts. Then, TIME editors evaluated nominations on key factors, including impact, innovation, ambition and success. The result is a diverse group of businesses helping chart an essential path forward. See the full list here: time.com/100companies.
Today’s announcement adds to a growing list of accolades for Viking. Viking was rated #1 for Oceans and #1 for Rivers by Condé Nast Traveler for the fifth consecutive year in the 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. Viking is also rated a “World’s Best” by Travel + Leisure —no other travel company has simultaneously received such honors by both publications. Recently, the Viking Vesta ® was also named to Condé Nast Traveler ’s 2026 Hot List. Additional recognition includes ranking #1 in seven categories in USA TODAY 10BEST 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, earning top honors from Southern Living for both its river and ocean voyages in the publication’s 2026 cruise rankings, receiving eight awards in Cruise Critic’s 2025 Best in Cruise Awards and, for the fifth year in a row, top rankings from U.S. News & World Report as “Best Luxury Line,” “Best Line for Couples” and “Best Line in the Mediterranean.” Viking also earned AOL’s Best Cruise Line for 2025 and continues to receive “Recommended” ratings for its ocean ships in Forbes Travel Guide.
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About Viking
Viking (NYSE: VIK) is a global leader in experiential travel with a fleet of more than 100 ships, exploring 21 rivers, five oceans and all seven continents. Designed for curious travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers experiences For The Thinking Person™. Viking has more than 450 awards to its name, including being rated #1 for Rivers and #1 for Oceans five years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler in the 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. Viking is also rated a “World’s Best” by Travel + Leisure —no other travel company has simultaneously received such honors by both publications. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com.
Viking today announced it has been named to TIME’s 2026 TIME100 Most Influential Companies list, which recognizes companies making an extraordinary impact around the world. Viking was recognized in the “Disrupters” category, highlighting companies that are redefining industries and challenging conventional approaches. Pictured here (left to right), a Viking ocean ship, expedition ship and river ship. For more information, visit www.viking.com.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Meta is raising the prospect of shutting down its social media services in New Mexico in response to a push by state prosecutors for fundamental changes to the company's platforms, including Instagram, to protect the mental health and safety of children.
The possibility emerged amid legal gamesmanship in the runup to a bench trial next week on allegations that Meta poses a public nuisance. It's the second phase of a case that already resulted in $375 million in civil penalties on a jury's determination that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
Prosecutors are asking the court to order a series of changes to child accounts on social media aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.
Meta executives have emphasized that the company continuously improves child safety and addresses compulsive social media use. The company says its being singled out among hundreds of apps that teens use.
In a court filing unsealed Thursday, Meta said it was unfeasible for the company to meet a proposed requirement for 99% accuracy in verifying that child users are at least 13 years old, among other demands.
“As a practical matter, this requirement effectively requires Meta to shut down its services — for all users in the state — or else comply with impossible obligations,” Meta said in the filing.
Such a shutdown across a population of 2.1 million residents in New Mexico could silence personal communication on Meta’s immensely popular platforms, which also include Facebook and WhatsApp, and also impact their use for commercial advertising.
By withdrawing from New Mexico, Meta would satisfy any concerns about harm to children, but the message could appear intentionally hostile and might lead to unintended consequences, said Eric Goldman, codirector of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California.
Goldman noted that Canadian authorities accused Facebook in 2023 of putting profits over safety after the platform blocked local news content during record-setting wildfires and evacuations. Facebook was responding to a newly enacted law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
A Los Angeles jury last month found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services, validated longstanding concerns about the dangers of social media.
New Mexico’s case against Meta is the first to reach trial among more that 40 state attorneys general who have filed suit against the company on claims it contributes to a mental health crisis among young people. Most are pursuing remedies in U.S. federal court.
“I highly doubt that they’re going to be willing and able to turn the lights off for their product all over the country,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in an online news conference.
Torrez disputed Meta’s argument that proposed changes are impractical, describing “before times” in an ever-evolving social media landscape when “we didn’t have infinite scroll and we didn’t have auto-play.” Torrez, a Democrat running for reelection to a second term in November, said he won’t be “turning a blind eye to exploited children in the state of New Mexico because people have an advertising contract.”
Beyond the U.S., other countries have implemented — or are planning — a bevy of restrictions on children’s online activities, ranging from social media bans to requiring younger teens to link their accounts to a parent’s. New Mexico also wants all child accounts on Meta platforms to have an associated parent or guardian, as well as a court-supervised child safety monitor to track improvements over time.
Goldman said there are some countries that Facebook “doesn’t directly support in part because it’s just not worth it.”
"The cost of maintaining the separate service is greater than any value from that territory,” he said. “And that could be the case with New Mexico as well.”
FILE - Visitors take photos at a sign outside Meta headquarters March 26, 2026, in Menlo Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
FILE - A recording of Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's deposition is played for the jurors on March 4, 2026, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool, File)
