From Online Streamer to Ideological Figurehead: The Rise of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker dubs it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to describe whatever online event took place to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” Most online debate, no matter how heated, fails the test, he argues – not least an incident recently, when someone 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 remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Zone

Piker finds himself in this gray area increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was known only to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique 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 imagine that you’d become a Twitch streamer? I’d be like, what is Twitch?”

It’s the morning and he’s preparing to start his daily late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in political science. He graduated to 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 overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

“You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes.

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve conceded 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 sharply critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Repercussions

The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from a trip. They interrogated him about his political opinions before releasing him. “I think they did it because they are aware of who I am,” he said.

These levels of hostility help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a major animal rights organization put out 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 shocked,” he said.

The Difference Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This illustrates 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. Interactions on the internet create this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event unfold in real time on his stream.

Piker continues to do real-life streams in the US. “I can’t let fear guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “left flank”.

“We have to embrace 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 seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional 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.”

But on top of that, he still enjoys it: “I find a lot of personal fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.