From Online Commentator to Political Lightning Rod: The Ascent of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker calls it an everyday benchmark: “You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe whatever online phenomena took place to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online conversation, regardless of how intense, fails the test, he argues – including a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Zone

Piker operates in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-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 since a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his views on the beleaguered 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 plenty to dislike: his blunt political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular late morning show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours straight, talking unscripted about the news, pop culture, his personal life, 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 deliberate decision, Piker explains. His media career began 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 counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve ceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly sharply critical of past administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework 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 ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to allegations of prejudice, which he denies. 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 relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Repercussions

The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his political opinions before letting him go. “I think they did it because they know who I am,” he said.

These levels of enmity help explain the “Free Kaya!” incident in Dublin. It started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin.

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

The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world and not coming across as hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile 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 was a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. 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 years,” he says. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the areas where there is some semblance of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He points to the progressive “wing”.

“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 prevent 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 occasional media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.”

And on top of that, he still finds it fulfilling: “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 itching to get started.