🔗 Share this article From Digital Commentator to Ideological Figurehead: The Rise of Hasan Piker Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe any online event occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he says – including a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article. Occupying the Blurred Space Piker increasingly exists in this gray area more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was known only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Target for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his appearance in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s getting ready to start his daily late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of messages from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “There’s a lot of ideological diversity among the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says. The Problem with the American Left This is the fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no issues getting vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Repercussions The vitriol constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his views before releasing him. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said. These levels of hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream. Piker still do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Staying Grounded Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “left flank”. “We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” And on top of that, he clearly finds it fulfilling: “I find a lot of personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.
Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe any online event occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he says – including a strange event last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article. Occupying the Blurred Space Piker increasingly exists in this gray area more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was known only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Prime Target for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his detractors there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his appearance in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts. “I’ll be honest, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, if someone were to ask me, did you ever think that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?” It’s early and he’s getting ready to start his daily late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the constant stream of messages from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “There’s a lot of ideological diversity among the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says. The Problem with the American Left This is the fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no issues getting vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Repercussions The vitriol constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his views before releasing him. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said. These levels of hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin. Piker took that encounter in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said. The Divide Between Online and Real Worlds This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream. Piker still do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Staying Grounded Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “left flank”. “We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” And on top of that, he clearly finds it fulfilling: “I find a lot of personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.