From Digital Streamer to Ideological Figurehead: The Rise of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker dubs it the bus driver test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have 30 seconds to clarify any online drama occurred to the bus driver without them turning to you and going, ‘Leave the damn bus.’” Most online conversation, regardless of how fiery, fails the test, he argues – including an incident recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Occupying the In-Between Zone

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

A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his detractors there is a lot to criticize: his direct political stances; his cultural background; his associations with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique in shirtless magazine spreads 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 11am show. He typically streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised about current affairs, pop culture, his personal life, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the never-ending stream of comments from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker says. His media career started out 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 graduated to his own show on the network in 2016 but in 2018 he chose 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 expression 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 relinquished so many arenas to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they just completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is consistently critical of past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal member of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My position is actually the standard position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a statement about a national tragedy that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of prejudice, which he strongly rejects. He has also been mocked for expressing admiration for another major global power, after a trip there.

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

Offline Repercussions

The hate constantly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his return from travel abroad. They questioned 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 conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting a online 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 disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was devastated,” he said.

The Difference Between Online and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard to maintain a very hostile energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Interactions 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 right-wing commentator served as 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 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 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 semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually truly 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 continues. “So I will do everything in my power to try and avoid a dark alternative.”

The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes occasional media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers 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 marathon live stream awaits, and he’s itching to get started.