Twitch Streamer Hasan Piker Banned for Controversial Comments

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Popular left-leaning political streamer Hasan Piker was kicked off of Twitch on Monday, days after saying Republicans would “kill” Florida Sen. Rick Scott if they cared about government waste. Piker, who has 2.8 million subscribers on Twitch and another 1.5 million on YouTube, made the comment while commenting on a clip of House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. The Twitch streamer was referring to Columbia/HCA, the healthcare company Scott founded, being fined $1.7 billion for defrauding federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare in the 1990s.

It is unclear how long Piker is suspended from Twitch. Visitors to his page are greeted with a message that says the account is “temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.” Representatives for Piker and Twitch did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Piker was recently profiled by Slate, which described him as “pro–Palestinian liberation, pro-immigrant, pro-trans, pro-choice, and unapologetically himself. Some of this has brought accusations of antisemitism and more, all of which he strongly denies but has lately found Piker in an uncharacteristically defensive posture.”

Piker has been critical of Israel following the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023, calling it a country that is based on an “ethno-nationalist, supremacist ideology.” Piker also recently helped raise more than $100,000 for a fundraiser tied to the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” which said it provides food to Gazans. This was not the first time Piker has found himself in hot water for what he said while streaming. Notably, in 2019, he was criticized for saying “America deserved 9/11,dude. F— it, I’m saying it.” Piker responded to the suspension on X, saying next time he would call for “MAX PUNISHMENT” for Scott.

Piker’s suspension from Twitch has sparked a debate about free speech and censorship on social media platforms. Some have come to Piker’s defense, arguing that his comments were taken out of context and that he was simply expressing his opinion. Others have criticized Piker for his inflammatory language and have praised Twitch for taking action against him. The incident has also highlighted the challenges that social media platforms face in balancing free speech with the need to protect users from hate speech and harassment.

Here are some of the key events and releases related to the incident:

• Hasan Piker’s Twitch account was suspended on Monday
• Piker responded to the suspension on X, saying he would choose his words more carefully in the future
• The incident has sparked a debate about free speech and censorship on social media platforms
• Piker has been critical of Israel and has raised money for a fundraiser tied to the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land”
• Piker has 2.8 million subscribers on Twitch and another 1.5 million on YouTube

The incident has also raised questions about the role of social media platforms in regulating speech and the impact that this can have on users and society as a whole.

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