From Digital Streamer to Political Lightning Rod: The Rise of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker dubs it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to explain whatever online event took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he contends – including an incident recently, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Gray Space

Piker finds himself in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But following the last presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “offline circles” for his perspectives on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Favorite Target for the Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his blunt political views; his cultural background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – does not fit stereotypical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique in revealing magazine photoshoots or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 getting ready to start his daily 11am show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about current affairs, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, 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

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming 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 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.

“You can find ideological variety amongst the gamers, among the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, 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 problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve conceded 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 member of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was ill-chosen.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain government actions have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for a different major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no issues 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 hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his return from a trip. They interrogated him about his views before releasing him. “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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a stranger in Dublin.

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

The Difference Between Digital and Real Worlds

This highlights 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 unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet create this environment where you can be as aggressive as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator was a harrowing 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he accepts.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been prescient about the last 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 left candidates that are actually truly galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “wing”.

“We have to lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything 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 appearances, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

But on top of that, he still 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 lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.