Letter of Congressman Torres to Twitch and Amazon Executives

by Richard John Torres

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-3215

October 29, 2024

Daniel Clancy
Chief Executive Officer
Twitch
50 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

CC: Steve Boom
Vice President of Audio, Twitch & Games
Amazon.com, Inc.
410 Terry Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

CC: Andrew R. Jassy
President and Chief Executive Officer
Amazon.com, Inc.
410 Terry Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

 

Dear Mr. Clancy,

I am writing to express alarm about the amplification of antisemitism on Twitch at the hands of Hasan Piker, who is one of the largest political streamers with a following of 2.7 million. Since October 7th, there has been an explosion of Jew-hatred on social media platforms.

Hasan Piker has emerged as the poster child for the post-October 7th outbreak of antisemitism in America. Mr. Piker has demonized Orthodox Jews as “inbred”^[1] and has dehumanized a Jewish man as a “bloodthirsty pig dog”^[2]: the association of Jews with pigs and blood-thirst is textbook antisemitism. Mr. Piker has all but exposed himself as an apologist for the sexual violence and savage rapes of October 7th. “It doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me,” Mr. Piker declares before finally admitting that “Palestinian resistance” (his euphemism for terrorism) is not perfect.”^[3]

Mr. Piker has said he has “no issue” with Hezbollah,^[4] the world’s the most heavily armed terrorist organization in the world, and has given a platform to a suspected terrorist from the Houthis.^[5] The US government has declared Hezbollah a Foreign Terrorist Organization (in the case of the former) and the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group. Platforming any of these terrorist organizations, as Piker has done, is beyond the pale. Piker has even gone as far as to incite violence, telling his followers to “kill” and “murder” people “in the streets” and “let the streets soak in their red-capitalist blood.”^[6] The incitement of violence merits scrutiny from federal law enforcement.

Outside the context of October 7th, Mr. Piker has even joked and mused about men date-raping women on a college campus^[7] and has posted an image of a handgun on top of a United States Senator in what appears to be open invitation to gun violence against a sitting elected official.^[8] Inviting one’s followers to shoot an elected official, whether it be done in earnest or in jest, is the kind of threat that warrants serious attention from federal law enforcement.

When he is not joking and musing about rape, Hasan Piker alternates between rape denial and rape apologia. He either denies the sexual violence of 10/7 or he denies that it matters. Mr. Piker once described the sexual violence of 10/7 as “rape fantasies” or “rape hallucinations.”^[9] Despite his disdain for and dismissiveness toward Jewish victims of rape in Israel, Mr. Piker remains one of the most popular political influencers on Twitch. What does his popularity reveal about the devaluation of Jewish lives in American society and Twitch’s role in deepening the devaluation of Jewish life?

Hasan Piker has come out as an apologist not only for 10/7 but also for 9/11, compounding antisemitism with anti-Americanism. Here is Mr. Piker in his own words: “America deserved 9/11.”^[10] The 3,000 Americans incinerated or otherwise murdered in the Twin Towers; the falling men and women plummeting to their deaths from 110-story skyscrapers; according to Mr. Piker, all of them had it coming. They deserved it. One wonders whether Mr. Piker has ever seen an anti-American or antisemitic terrorist attack he didn’t like? He seems to live in a morally inverted universe where the true terrorists on 9/11 and 10/7 were not the perpetrators but the victims.

Speaking of siding with terrorists, Mr. Piker has glorified “brave mujahideen” for wounding US Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who honorably served his nation in the Navy Seals; Mr. Piker’s loyalty lies not with the members of the US Armed Services but with the mujahideen who murder and maim them on the battlefield.^[11]

In a recent video on Twitch, Hasan is seen maliciously laughing at a Jewish woman who simply thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for advocating for the hostages and who conveyed concern about antisemitism.^[12] I have a simple question for Mr. Piker and his enablers at Twitch. What exactly do you find amusing? Are you amused by antisemitism? Amused by the kidnapping of 30 children, among them infants and toddlers? Amused by the abduction of aging Holocaust and Farhud survivors?

Mr. Piker revealed the depth of his depravity when he posted an image of himself as a reincarnation of Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of totalitarian terror in the 20th century.^[13] Lenin is estimated to have caused the deaths of 7 to 10 million people; his successor, Stalin, the deaths of 20 to 30 million people; his follower, Mao Zedong, the deaths of 40 to 70 million people in Communist China. With idols like Lenin, it is no wonder why Hasan Piker seems so untroubled by the mass killings of October 7th. The only question that remains: Why is Twitch so untroubled by Hasan Piker’s troubling Jew-hatred?

Mr. Clancy: You are known to be an admirer of Hasan Piker. You admire Mr. Piker so deeply that you even had your staff at Twitch sing him a ‘Happy Birthday.’^[14] You have praised Mr. Piker for “his frankness and bluntness” and have said “he is comfortable saying what he believes.”^[15] In light of all the antisemitism that has been revealed about Mr. Piker, do you still like his frankness and bluntness? Is your company still comfortable with how comfortable Mr. Piker has been with spewing Jew-hatred, however “frankly” and “bluntly” he might do so?

Hasan Piker is but the tip of the iceberg—the antisemitic poster child for a systematically antisemitic social media platform. Twitch not only enables antisemitism—it emboldens it. Look no further than the streamer Sneako, who, in one video, is seen screaming like a raving lunatic: “Down with the Yahood,” which means “Down with the Jews.”^[16] Lest you think Sneako’s antisemitism is but an isolated event, he paid effusive tribute to the mastermind of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust: “May Allah (God) grant Yahya Sinwar the highest ranking Jannah (paradise) inshallah.”^[17] No less virulent in his antisemitism is Myron Gaines, who said we have to “take our country back from these Jewish supremacists.”^[18] If the KKK or the Third Reich were a social media platform, it would be Twitch.

If Twitch feels even the slightest semblance of social responsibility as a corporation—a questionable proposition given the company you keep—then the time has come for Twitch to stop popularizing those who popularize antisemitism.

Congress has been scrutinizing the amplified antisemitism that has taken hold in the wake of October 7th. Just like no person is above the law, no company in America—not even Twitch—is above Congressional oversight.

Sincerely,

A personal signature appears here

Ritchie Torres
Member of Congress

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1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UBBBDxXng7n8jNo4ej1W-8ONZrHETsSk/view?usp=sharing
2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HdFYUsGLwYoZ1YPE7zHn3mCTFoLrL-7k/view?usp=sharing
3. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dyKD0-UlU-cECmvCUxa_fPFPOsGJi8Md/view?usp=sharing
4. https://www.mediaite.com/politics/left-wing-pundit-hasan-piker-says-i-dont-have-an-issue-with-hezbollah-praises-yemens-houthis-for-seizing-ships/
5. https://www.adl.org/resources/article/anti-israel-activists-applaud-houthi-violence
6. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_aUJn2AzffWJR-Vp0A_nBh-4dyxMiMVv/view?usp=sharing
7. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-ymq6EgEg5H8DkeE26yDCTuiaxwyx3B/view?usp=sharing
8. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bAD6OZmn69uL4sPmFH_Dbeh1XcdvzBaG/view?usp=sharing
9. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M_eAI78XN7Y3azx8W-7n8mN-49yoINRF/view?usp=sharing
10. https://drive.google.com/file/d/15uuk6hXOmFWT96QzdoCtPZLylOPjHoVa/view?usp=sharing
11. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7385477/Hasan-Piker-rips-Rep-Dan-Crenshaw-saying-brave-insurgent-took-eye.html
12. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AomUw9OITRsl4BeX7RRLff3GBupbENLU/view?usp=sharing
13. https://x.com/hasanthehun/status/1850246262412726626?s=12
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=BnSg8UsKuxNEgYz5&v=hRGK3hwo1tI&feature=youtu.be
15. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-13/twitch-s-new-ceo-defends-job-cuts-plans-to-meet-with-creators
16. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_aUJn2AzffWJR-Vp0A_nBh-4dyxMiMVv/view?usp=sharing
17. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_aUJn2AzffWJR-Vp0A_nBh-4dyxMiMVv/view?usp=sharing
18. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_aUJn2AzffWJR-Vp0A_nBh-4dyxMiMVv/view?usp=sharing