Leftist streamer Hasan Piker says Twitch banned him for using the word 'cracker'
- The leftist political commentator Hasan Piker said he was banned from Twitch on Monday.
- He wrote in a tweet that he was banned from the platform for saying "cracker."
Twitch star Hasan Piker said he was banned from the platform on Monday for using the word "cracker."
The leftist political commentator made the claim in a tweet on Monday night.
Piker streams under the handle HasanAbi and has over 1.6 million followers on Twitch, according to the data analytics website SocialBlade. His Twitch channel was unavailable to view as of Tuesday morning. Although the ban is likely temporary — Twitch streamers, even popular ones, regularly get temporarily banned for violating rules — Piker has not publicly commented on when or if his channel will be reinstated.
The term "cracker," which is sometimes used as a racial epithet for white people, dates back to before the 17th century, according to NPR, and has a complicated history. It's considered a demeaning term by many white people in the Southern US, according to CNN.
Twitch prohibits "using hateful slurs, either undirected or targeted toward another individual," according to its Hateful Conduct and Harassment Policy.
Piker's tweet has over 58,000 likes and almost 5,000 retweets, with many other popular Twitch streamers like the Minecraft player Dream and Matthew "Mizkif" Rinaudo commenting jokes about the word "cracker"on the tweet.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote that he "probably never used" the word "before this weekend."
Piker and Twitch did not respond to requests for comment.