From Online Streamer to Political Figurehead: The Rise of Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: “Picture yourself on a bus and you have a brief moment to clarify any online drama unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the fucking bus.’” The vast majority of online discourse, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he says – 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!” Forget the bus driver; attempting to explain the importance of that specific event could easily take the rest of this article.

Navigating the Blurred Space

Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was familiar primarily to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But following a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an sought-after voice in “traditional media” for his perspectives on the struggling political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men.

A Prime Target for the Political Right

Predictably, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to criticize: his outspoken political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his associations with progressive politicians. But they also resent the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has leveraged his appearance in shirtless magazine spreads or social media posts.

“I’ll be honest, I had no idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states 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 daily late morning show. He usually broadcasts live for seven or eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, pop culture, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and interacting with the constant stream of messages from viewers.

Beginning at The Young Turks to Solo Streaming

Establishing himself on Twitch, a platform primarily for livestreaming video games, was a conscious decision, Piker explains. His media career started out with The Young Turks, the progressive online news network. His 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 decided 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 diversity amongst the gamers, amongst the developers, among the consumers, but sadly, the market for political expression in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he says.

The Challenge with the American Left

This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve conceded so many cultural spaces to the right. “You still have to market your ideas … but they simply 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 generally social democrat and “empathy-first”, he explains. “My viewpoint is actually the standard position in much of the world.”

Controversies and Criticism

One of the risks of Piker’s style of relaxed, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch multiple times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a broader critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was amplified by conservative media outlets. Piker later apologised and said the wording was ill-chosen.

Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinian rights and criticism of certain state policies have led to allegations of bias, which he denies. He has also been ridiculed for expressing admiration for a different 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 Repercussions

The vitriol constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his return from travel abroad. They interrogated 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 enmity 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 “the collar incident.” Even a major animal rights organization put out a statement. This led to the surprise encounter by a random in Dublin.

Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was clipped from his live stream and disseminated with his reply edited out. “They wanted to make it look like I was shocked,” he said.

The Difference Between Digital and Offline Worlds

This illustrates the chasm 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 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 conservative commentator served as a harrowing example of where this online hate can end up. 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 one-sided fan dynamics come with the territory, he acknowledges.

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 semblance of hope, it’s the progressive candidates that are actually really galvanising the public,” he says. He references the progressive “wing”.

“We have to lean into 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 arguably do with someone like Piker. But it doesn’t sound as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media guest spots, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “The audience is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.”

And on top of that, he clearly enjoys it: “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 awaits, and he’s itching to get started.