From Online Streamer to Political Lightning Rod: The Rise of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker dubs it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to clarify any online phenomena took place to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online debate, no matter how intense, does not pass the test, he contends – including a strange event recently, when a person on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Occupying the Gray Zone

Piker operates in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his blunt political views; his cultural background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his appearance in revealing magazine spreads or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no clue that this is what I was going to be doing,” says 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 the morning and he’s getting ready to start his regular 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before studying political science. He graduated to his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he decided to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says.

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his return from a trip. They questioned him about his views before releasing him. “I think they did it because they are aware of who I am,” he said.

These levels of enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a random in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited from his live stream and disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard to maintain a very negative energy in the real world and not coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator served as a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Toxic 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 quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “wing”.

“We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a dark 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 guest spots, 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 still enjoys it: “I find a lot of emotional fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another marathon live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.