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

Hasan Piker dubs it an everyday benchmark: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have 30 seconds to clarify whatever online drama took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he contends – including an incident last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street requested to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Zone

Piker operates in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the very online, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the struggling political left, and especially that inordinately discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his c critics there is a lot to criticize: his blunt political views; his cultural background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with 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.

“To be frank, 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 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 regular late morning show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking improvised about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

From The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career began 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 eventually hosted his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often toxic views that permeated the space.

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

The Problem with the American Left

This is the core problem with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many battlegrounds to the right. “You still 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 supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics ammunition. He has been suspended 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 historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain state policies have led to accusations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there.

“I have no problem getting vilified by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.”

Offline Consequences

The vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They questioned him about his political opinions before releasing him. “I think they did it because they are aware of 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 conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker took that encounter 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 shocked,” he said.

The Divide Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the chasm 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 hysterical and odd. Exchanges on the internet create this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.”

That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling 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 unfold in real time on his stream.

Piker still 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 acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Finding Balance

Having been accurate about a recent 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 progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He references 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 prevent a dark alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional media guest spots, but he’s not drawn 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 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 itching to get started.