🔗 Share this article From Online Streamer to Ideological Lightning Rod: The Ascent of Hasan Piker Hasan Piker dubs 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 without them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave 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 asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article. Occupying the Gray Space Piker finds himself in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his views on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his blunt political stances; his cultural 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 leveraged his physique in revealing 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. “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 daily 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often toxic views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate. Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to accusations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for another 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 says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences 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 questioned 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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming 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 took that encounter 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 Real Worlds This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative 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 hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead 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 “wing”. “We have to lean into 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 prevent a dark alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.
Hasan Piker dubs 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 without them turning to you and saying, ‘Leave 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 asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the significance of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article. Occupying the Gray Space Piker finds himself in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was known primarily to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an sought-after voice in “the real world” for his views on the struggling political left, and specifically that inordinately discussed demographic, young men. A Prime Hate Figure for the Political Right Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his blunt political stances; his cultural 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 leveraged his physique in revealing 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. “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 daily 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. Piker’s 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often toxic views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this hobby is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve relinquished so many battlegrounds to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely gave up on all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of recent administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s style of informal, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate. Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of certain state policies have led to accusations of prejudice, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for another 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 says. “It is what it is.” Real-World Consequences 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 questioned 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 started with a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, yelped suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming 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 took that encounter 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 Real Worlds This illustrates the difference between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative 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 hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was relatively low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The fatal shooting of a conservative commentator was 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 years,” he says. Unhealthy one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he accepts. Looking Ahead 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 “wing”. “We have to lean into 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 prevent a dark alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from traditional publishers.” But 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 is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.