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

Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify any online event took place to the bus driver before them turning to you and going, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he contends – including an incident recently, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article.

Occupying the Gray Zone

Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his views on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim 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 not been afraid his physique in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate decision, Piker says. His media career began 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 counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that permeated the space.

“You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says.

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 cultural spaces to the right. “You still have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

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

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes 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 comment about a national tragedy that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain state policies have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked 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 relish when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”

Offline Repercussions

The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from a trip. 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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the surprise encounter 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 response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Divide Between Online and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as hysterical 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 feels less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop 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. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the avenues where there is some semblance 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 avoid a dark 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.”

And on top of that, he clearly 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 itching to get started.