Elon Musk publicly accused Hasan Piker of promoting terrorism and violence on Twitch yesterday. The X owner tagged Jeff Bezos directly to demand Amazon’s attention to the matter.
The drama started when streamer Tectone posted a compilation video allegedly showing HasanAbi endorsing terrorism. Musk replied to the post with “Concerning” and “Looking into this.” He then tagged Bezos, Amazon’s Executive Chairman, rather than Twitch CEO Dan Clancy or Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
Musk also asked his AI assistant Grok to verify the claims, posting “@grok is this true,” in the thread. The move signals his intent to fact-check the allegations using his own AI technology.
HasanAbi, whose real name is Hasan Piker, ranks among Twitch’s biggest political streamers with millions of followers. The Turkish-American commentator has faced controversy before. In 2019, he caught heat for saying “America deserved 9/11” during a stream.
The decision to tag Bezos instead of Twitch’s actual leadership got people talking. While Bezos chairs Amazon’s board, he stepped down as CEO in 2021. Amazon bought Twitch in 2014 for nearly $1bn.
Neither Bezos, Amazon, Twitch, nor Piker have responded publicly to Musk’s accusations. No moderation action has been taken against Piker’s channel at the time of writing.
The controversy highlights ongoing debates about political content on streaming platforms. Twitch must balance free expression with safety policies, especially for high-profile creators who draw millions of viewers.
Piker regularly covers geopolitics, elections, and social movements on his streams. His commentary style often draws strong reactions from both supporters and critics.
