🔗 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 explain whatever online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Navigating the Blurred Zone Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid 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,” 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 the morning and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch Building 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 grew up 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 counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve ceded 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 regularly critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain state policies have led to accusations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no issues getting attacked by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Offline Consequences The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. 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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin. Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited 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 Real Worlds This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “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 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 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer 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 lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.” And on top of that, he still 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 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 explain whatever online phenomena unfolded to the bus driver before them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online debate, regardless of how intense, does not pass the test, he argues – including a strange event last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; trying to explain the meaning of this particular event might well take the remainder of this article. Navigating the Blurred Zone Piker finds himself in this gray area more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the thirty-four-year-old was familiar only to the digitally immersed, particularly Americans in their twenties and thirties, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming channel Twitch. But since a recent presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “offline circles” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that constantly fretted-over demographic, young men. A Favorite Hate Figure for the Right Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite villain of the political right. To his enemies there is plenty to criticize: his blunt political stances; his Turkish, Muslim background; his allegiances with left-wing politicians. But they also take issue with the fact that Piker – tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome – does not fit typical lefty caricatures. He has not been afraid 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,” 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 the morning and he’s preparing to start his daily 11am show. He usually broadcasts live for seven to eight hours straight, talking off the cuff about the news, lifestyle stories, what he’s up to, playing video games, reacting to memes and media clips, and responding to the never-ending stream of messages from viewers. Beginning at The Young Turks to Twitch Building 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 grew up 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 counterbalance what he saw as dominantly rightwing, and often toxic views that infested the space. “You can find ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but sadly, the market for political commentary in this arena is so heavily dominated by the right,” he notes. The Challenge with the American Left This is the core issue with the American left in broad terms, says Piker: they’ve ceded 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 regularly critical of recent administrations on his show, especially on foreign policy, but he is not a loyal member of the major center-left party. His own politics are generally social democratic and “empathy-first”, he clarifies. “My viewpoint is actually the normal position in much of the world.” Firestorms and Backlash One of the risks of Piker’s type of relaxed, relatable commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his opponents ammunition. He has been suspended from Twitch several times for deemed offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the framework of a broader critique, he made a comment about a historic attack that was seized upon by conservative media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the language was inappropriate. Likewise, Piker’s outspoken support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain state policies have led to accusations of bias, which he denies. He has also been mocked for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there. “I have no issues getting attacked by people on the right. I love when my enemies hate me,” he says. “It is what it is.” Offline Consequences The hate increasingly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from a trip. 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 originated from a Twitch stream where his dog, Kaya, made a noise suddenly. Online conspiracy theorists jumped to the conclusion that Piker was harming the animal, igniting a meme-fueled controversy dubbed “collargate.” Even a prominent animal rights organization issued a statement. This led to the ambush by a stranger in Dublin. Piker handled the situation in his stride. Online, though, the encounter was edited 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 Real Worlds This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “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 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 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 guide my life. I’ve gotten death threats for over a decade,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships come with the territory, he acknowledges. The Future and Staying Grounded Having been accurate about a recent election, how does Piker view the next few years? “Things change quite quickly, but if you look at the areas where there is some glimmer 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 lean into that, because I feel like it’s a matter of critical importance at this point,” he adds. “So I will do anything in my power to try and avoid a worse alternative.” The American left could arguably do with someone like Piker. But it seems unlikely as if Piker is interested in mainstream political office. He makes periodic media appearances, but he’s not tempted further into legacy media, he says. “Viewers is moving in my direction, and away from legacy publishers.” And on top of that, he still 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 lengthy live stream awaits, and he’s itching to get started.