The streamer HasanAbi was one of the big winners on Twitch in 2021: But he believes someone at the streaming service has it out for him, sabotaging him during a major stream and changing his stream key multiple times.
Why is Hasan Abi one of the winners on Twitch? Hasan Piker (29) is an American streamer of Turkish descent who specializes in broadcasting political events on Twitch. During the US election in November 2020, tens of thousands of viewers watched him as he explained the election to them. The streamer identifies as left-wing.
His channel “HasanAbi” boomed again on January 6, as angry protesters marched on the US Capitol. Here, HasanAbi peaked at over 220,000 live viewers.
This is his problem: During the successful stream on January 6, HasanAbi repeatedly faced technical difficulties and had to interrupt his Twitch stream:
- His OBS program crashed at 145,000 viewers
- On the other hand, his stream key was changed, so he couldn’t go live for a short period
“I don’t know who you are, but I hope they find you”
The change of the key outrages HasanAbi. He says:
“Changing my stream key is something that someone could do who does not have direct access to my account, for example an admin at Twitch, an employee. If they really had full access to my account, they would not only change my key in the backend, but could do whatever they want.”
Hasan Abi
When his stream key was changed for the second time, HasanAbi reacted frustrated: This is 100% a Twitch problem. Someone is changing his key. This is certainly someone at Twitch.
He then explains how secure his channel is. The problems could not be due to someone cracking his password, but he argues: The change of the stream key is sabotage by someone at Twitch.
He says he does not know who is changing his stream key, but he hopes they find him.
What’s behind this: The political climate in the USA is polarized. The nation is divided. This fuels the belief that one can attribute any possible wrongdoing to “the people on the other side.”
HasanAbi seems to firmly believe that a “rogue employee” at Twitch has it out for him and is sabotaging him for his own political reasons.
Politics has become increasingly important on Twitch in recent months. The US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a major event in Among Us before the US election. She supported pretty much every major streamer who in some way appears “left” during her stream. In total, she reached 600,000 people, which might have brought a vote or two in the election:
Politician understands Twitch – 600,000 watch her as she kills, wonders, deceives
