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

Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify any online event occurred to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how intense, fails the test, he argues – not least a strange event recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the In-Between Zone

Piker increasingly exists in this gray area more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime villain of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to criticize: his outspoken political views; his cultural background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 early and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, 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.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up 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 infested the space.

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

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple 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 right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

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

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

Real-World Consequences

The vitriol constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They questioned 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 harming the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin.

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

The Difference Between Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the chasm 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 foster this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator served as a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop 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 over a decade,” he says. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually truly 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 adds. “So I will do anything 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 tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But 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.