Here's What Really Got Hasan Piker Permabanned From TikTok
Hasan Piker was just permanently banned on TikTok. One of the few Twitch streamers who is more well-known for his political opinions than he is for his gaming prowess, he's been vocal about foreign policy, protests, and presidential elections, but he has been particularly outspoken regarding civil rights. This has been a large component in his success as one of the most watched streamers on the internet today, but it has also gotten him into hot water with the platforms where he broadcasts his content on multiple occasions. Now it seems that one of platform silencing him once again.
Hasan's channel was shut down for "hate speech" after his editor, ostonox, posted a clip from one of his recent streams on the video sharing platform. After the ban, ostonox posted the clip on Twitter, stating, "Tiktok just banned Hasan for 'Hate Speech' after we posted this vid about how 'Black Lives Matter' means we need to end the systemic discrimination and police violence against black people in the United States[,] and as a bonus[,] they did it on MLK day." The video in question featured Hasan explaining why the term "All Lives Matter" only exists to undermine the expression "Black Lives Matter." Considering that the original intent of the discussion seems to be educational, a few details about the situation don't seem to add up.
Hasan's video debates BLM vs. ALM
The clip in question came from a stream where Hasan watched and reacted to a YouTube video posted by the channel Cut titled "Do Republicans & Democrats Ever Agree." In the video, several Democrats and Republicans were asked questions to see if and when their responses matched. One of the questions they were asked was "Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter?" Hasan paused the video at this point and made a mock argument for both statements. "One side is saying 'Black lives matter and Black lives are a part of all lives, so all lives clearly don't matter until Black lives matter because Black lives currently don't matter.' The other side is saying 'Nah, f**k that, all lives matter actually. Black lives matter, too, you're just f*****g wrong for bringing that up.'" Hasan then went on to say that "the extreme in that situation is one side saying, correctly, that Black people are disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system and sometimes even killed as a consequence of that disproportionate targeting and systemic racism. The other side is denying that reality. On the extreme side on the other side, they're also taking matters in their own f*****g hands. So, how can you look at that situation and go, 'Huh, both sides have some ideas here?'" Some fans argued that Hasan regularly takes a stand against hate speech, even though he believes those with opinions differing from his own shouldn't be booted from the internet.
Hasan's explanation didn't seem like hate speech, so why would the offending TikTok get taken down? The real reason for Hasan's perma-ban might be far more simple: He gets reported far too often.
Hasan might have had too many previous bans
Kotaku reached out to ostonox, who stated that TikTok's automated moderation systems had banned Hasan several times in the past after his videos had been reported, but that the company would usually reverse the ban after he filed an appeal and got a "human reviewer" to examine his case.
Hasan tried to appeal this newest ban as well, but this time he was denied. He posted a screenshot of a conversation with TikTokSupport on Twitter, where they stated, "after speaking directly with our suspension team, the ban will stay due to hateful behavior." The screenshot didn't offer any more details, but Hasan seemed to be under the impression that his content had just been reported one too many times.
In a stream following the ban, Hasan said, "any time a TikTok goes of mine goes viral, it gets automatically mass-reported and I get f*****g perma-banned." There are definitely more than a few people out there who are not fans of Hasan, and mass-reporting the creator's work in an attempt to silence them doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility.
While Hasan has tweeted that his TikTok account has been restored, ostonox's remains banned.