From Online Streamer to Ideological Figurehead: The Ascent of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker calls it an everyday benchmark: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have 30 seconds to describe whatever online phenomena occurred to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” Most online discourse, no matter how intense, fails the test, he contends – including a strange event recently, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Gray Space

Piker finds himself in this in-between space increasingly these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the very online, particularly Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly discussed demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Right

Unsurprisingly, this also positions Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his outspoken political stances; his cultural background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has leveraged his physique 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. “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 the morning and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually streams live for seven or eight hours straight, talking improvised about the news, lifestyle stories, his personal life, 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

Building himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for streaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. 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 decided to go solo on Twitch, to provide an alternative to what he saw as overwhelmingly conservative, and often divisive views that infested the space.

“You can find ideological diversity among the gamers, among the developers, among the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this hobby 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 general, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You absolutely have to promote your ideas … but they simply completely abandoned all notion of marketing or branding.”

Piker is regularly sharply 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 democratic and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.”

Firestorms and Backlash

One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. Most notoriously, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the language was inappropriate.

Similarly, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and criticism of certain government actions have led to accusations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for a different major global power, after a trip there.

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

Real-World Repercussions

The hate increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by American border agents on his return from a trip. They interrogated him about his political opinions before letting him go. “I think they did it because they know 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 jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online 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 edited 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 Online and Offline Worlds

This highlights the chasm 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 hysterical and odd. Exchanges 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 right-wing commentator was a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. Piker watched the event develop 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. Toxic parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges.

Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded

Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view the next few years? “The landscape shifts 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 “left flank”.

“We have to embrace that, because I feel like it’s a matter of life or death at this point,” he adds. “So I will do everything in my power to try and prevent a worse alternative.”

The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in traditional political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not drawn further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from traditional 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 lengthy live stream is about to begin, and he’s itching to get started.