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

Hasan Piker calls it an everyday benchmark: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to describe any online event occurred to the bus driver before them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, 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!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the rest of this article.

Existing in the Blurred Space

Piker increasingly exists in this in-between space more and more these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the very online, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to dislike: his direct political stances; his cultural background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies 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 typically broadcasts live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

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. 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 decided to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in general, argues Piker: they’ve ceded 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, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple 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 conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no issues 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 hate constantly risks 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 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, made a noise 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 put out 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 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 Difference Between Online and Real Worlds

This highlights the difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very hard to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges 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 admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a right-wing commentator served as a harrowing 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 over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he accepts.

The Future and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer of hope, it’s the left candidates that are actually really 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 seems unlikely as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

And 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 awaits, and he’s itching to get started.