🔗 Share this article From Online Streamer to Political Figurehead: The Ascent of Hasan Piker Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to describe whatever online drama took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how heated, does not pass the test, he says – not least 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 shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Blurred Zone Piker increasingly exists 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 twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into 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 Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim 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 caricatures. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless 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. “Like, 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 unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Establishing himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. 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 studying 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 overwhelmingly conservative, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of past 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 “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents 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 statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions 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 vilified by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Offline Consequences The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his views before letting him go. “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 detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major 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 disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not 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 relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. 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 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 Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues 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 embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he continues. “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 seems unlikely as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers 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 emotional fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.
Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “You get on a bus and you have a brief moment to describe whatever online drama took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how heated, does not pass the test, he says – not least 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 shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the remainder of this article. Occupying the Blurred Zone Piker increasingly exists 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 twenties and thirties, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into 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 Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a prime target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim 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 caricatures. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless 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. “Like, 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 unscripted about current affairs, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, engaging with memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of comments from viewers. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Establishing himself on Twitch, which is primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. 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 studying 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 overwhelmingly conservative, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to market your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.” Piker is consistently sharply critical of past 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 “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents 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 statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions 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 vilified by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Offline Consequences The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his views before letting him go. “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 detractors swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major 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 disseminated with his response edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said. The Divide Between Digital and Real Worlds This highlights the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world and not 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 relatively low stakes. In the US, he admits to feeling less safe. The fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator was a harrowing example of where this online hate can lead. 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 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 Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker feel the next few years? “Things change quite rapidly, but if you look at the avenues 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 embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he continues. “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 seems unlikely as if Piker is tempted in traditional political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not drawn further into traditional media, he says. “Viewers 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 emotional fulfilment in what I do.” As he’s talking, he’s got one eye on the clock. Another marathon live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.