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

Hasan Piker refers to it an everyday benchmark: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online drama took place to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he says – including a strange event recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article.

Navigating the Gray Space

Piker operates in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known only to the very online, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his c critics there is a lot to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit stereotypical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid his physique in revealing magazine spreads 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 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 late morning show. He typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His parents are Turkish immigrants, and he grew up 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 chose 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 variety amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes.

The Challenge with the American Left

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

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

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework 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 language was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain state policies have led to accusations of prejudice, 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 attacked by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”

Real-World Repercussions

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

Piker took that encounter 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 Difference Between Online and Real Worlds

This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very hostile 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 hostile 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 was a shocking example of where this online hate can lead. 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been prescient about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the progressive 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 life or death at this point,” he continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted 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.