From Digital Streamer to Ideological 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 clarify whatever online event took place to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online conversation, regardless of how fiery, fails the test, he contends – not least an incident last weekend, 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!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the rest of this article.

Occupying the In-Between Zone

Piker operates in this gray area increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his outspoken political views; his cultural background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“To be frank, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” says Piker. “Like, 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 getting ready to start his regular late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking unscripted about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career began with The Young Turks, the left-leaning online news network. Piker’s parents are Turkish immigrants, and he was raised between New Jersey and Istanbul before majoring in 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 overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space.

“There’s a lot of ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says.

The Problem with the American Left

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

Piker is regularly critical of recent 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 “compassion-driven”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much 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 gives 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 framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise 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 states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The vitriol increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his views before letting him go. “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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent 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 shared 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 chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard 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 relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator served as 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 acknowledges.

The Future and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate 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 glimmer 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 embrace 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 prevent a worse alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But 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.