🔗 Share this article From Online Commentator to Ideological Figurehead: The Rise of Hasan Piker Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online event took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least an incident last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Existing in the Blurred Space Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his direct political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his physique in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “To be frank, 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, 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. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate 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 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the core problem with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just 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 not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Similarly, Piker’s outspoken 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 admiration for a different 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 vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. 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 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 swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization issued 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 shared 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 difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can lead. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view 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 points to 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 avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy 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.
Hasan Piker refers to it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have half a minute to describe any online event took place to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he says – not least an incident last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of that specific event might well take the remainder of this article. Existing in the Blurred Space Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in “traditional media” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and specifically that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite hate figure of the political right. To his c critics there is plenty to dislike: his direct political views; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with progressive politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – physically imposing and charismatic – defies typical lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid his physique in shirtless magazine photoshoots or social media posts. “To be frank, 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 early and he’s preparing to start his regular 11am show. He usually streams live for seven to eight hours consecutively, talking off the cuff about the news, 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. From The Young Turks to Solo Streaming Building himself on Twitch, which is primarily for streaming video games, was a deliberate 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 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 provide an alternative to what he saw as dominantly conservative, and often divisive views that permeated the space. “You can find ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this hobby is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Problem with the American Left This is the core problem with the American left in general, says Piker: they’ve conceded so many arenas to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they just 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 not a loyal supporter of the major center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democrat and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in most of the world.” Controversies and Criticism One of the dangers of Piker’s type of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll occasionally go too far, which provides his critics fodder. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a wider critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was amplified by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was ill-chosen. Similarly, Piker’s outspoken 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 admiration for a different 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 vitriol increasingly risks to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was questioned by US border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. 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 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 swiftly concluded that Piker was mistreating the animal, sparking a online controversy dubbed “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization issued 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 shared 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 difference between the offline and online worlds, he says: “It’s very difficult to maintain a very negative energy in the real world without coming across as unhinged and odd. Exchanges on the internet foster this environment where you can be as hostile as you want.” That Dublin encounter was fairly low stakes. In the US, he feels less safe. The assassination of a conservative commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can lead. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Toxic one-sided fan dynamics are part of the territory, he acknowledges. Looking Ahead and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about the last election, how does Piker view 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 points to 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 avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could perhaps do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into traditional media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy 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.