Hasan Piker calls it a simple litmus test: “Imagine boarding a bus and you have a brief moment to describe any online drama unfolded to the bus driver without them looking at you and saying, ‘Get off the damn bus.’” The vast majority of online conversation, no matter how fiery, fails the test, he argues – not least an incident last weekend, when a person on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then produced a picture of his dog and yelled “Free Kaya!” Never mind the bus driver; attempting to explain the meaning of this particular event could easily take the remainder of this article.
Existing in the Gray Space
Piker finds himself in this liminal zone increasingly these days. Until relatively recently, the 34-year-old was known only to the digitally immersed, especially Americans in their 20s and 30s, mostly thanks to his dominant presence on the streaming platform Twitch. But since the last presidential election, Piker has transformed into an in-demand voice in “the real world” for his analysis on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men.
A Prime Target for the Right
Unsurprisingly, this also makes Piker a favorite target of the political right. To his enemies there is a lot to criticize: his direct political views; his cultural background; his associations with left-wing 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 idea that this is what I was going to be doing,” states Piker. “For instance, 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 late morning show. He typically broadcasts 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 responding to the constant stream of comments 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 explains. His media career started out 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 chose to go solo on Twitch, to counterbalance what he saw as overwhelmingly rightwing, and often divisive views that infested the space.
“You can find ideological variety among the gamers, amongst the developers, amongst the consumers, but unfortunately, the market for political expression in this arena is so overwhelmingly dominated by the right,” he says.
The Problem with the American Left
This is the fundamental issue with the American left in broad terms, argues Piker: they’ve ceded so many arenas 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 past administrations on his show, particularly on foreign policy, but he is no loyal supporter of the dominant center-left party. His own politics are broadly social democratic and “compassion-driven”, he explains. “My position is actually the normal position in much of the world.”
Controversies and Backlash
One of the dangers of Piker’s style of informal, accessible commentary is that he’ll sometimes go too far, which gives his critics fodder. He has been temporarily banned from Twitch several times for perceived offensive content. In a highly publicized incident, in 2019, in the context of a wider critique, he made a statement about a historic attack that was seized upon by right-wing media outlets. Piker later expressed regret and said the wording was inappropriate.
Likewise, Piker’s vocal support for Palestinians and condemnation of certain government actions have led to accusations of bias, which he strongly rejects. He has also been ridiculed for expressing praise for another major global power, after a trip there.
“I have no problem getting attacked by people on the right. I relish when my enemies hate me,” he states. “It is what it is.”
Offline Repercussions
The hate constantly threatens to spill offline, however. On one occasion, Piker was detained by American border agents on his re-entry from travel abroad. They interrogated him about his political opinions before letting him go. “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, yelped suddenly. Online detractors jumped to the conclusion that Piker was mistreating the animal, igniting 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 Online and Offline Worlds
This illustrates the chasm between the offline and online worlds, he explains: “It’s very hard 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 fatal shooting of a right-wing commentator served as a shocking example of where this online hate can end up. 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 dictate my life. I’ve gotten death threats for years,” he says. Unhealthy parasocial relationships come with the territory, he accepts.
Looking Ahead and Finding Balance
Having been prescient about a recent election, how does Piker view 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 truly galvanising the public,” he says. He points to 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 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 mainstream political office. He makes occasional 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 still 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 marathon live stream awaits, and he’s eager to get started.
