Keyaa Banerji lifted 140 kg and went viral. Then came thousands of AI pictures, fake accounts and online abuse – why she made a new Instagram account

Indian powerlifter Keyao Kunal Banerji’s remarkable 140kg deadlift should have been a moment of sporting celebration. Instead, the viral attention surrounding her silver medal-winning performance at the 2026 IPF World Sub-Junior & Junior Classic Powerlifting Championships exposed her to a deeply troubling side of online fame.The 21-year-old powerlifter revealed she faced sexual harassment, impersonation, conversations about her ethnicity, ancestry and caste and what she described as thousands of AI-generated images using doctored versions of her face and body.Banerji opened up about the experience through a series of Instagram stories, explaining why she created a new account after her previous private profile was suspended. Her decision, she clarified, was not an attempt to chase followers or turn into a social media personality, but rather to regain control of her own identity and sports narrative.“I recently won a silver medal in the deadlift at the IPF Jr Worlds for India, and while I appreciate the support and recognition, as an Indian athlete I have also had to deal with online sexual harassment, accounts impersonating me and disturbing conversations about my ethnicity, origin and caste?”But she seemed most concerned about the extent and nature of AI manipulation.“And thousands of Al’s worst generated images of me with my body and face images morphed and edited in very disturbing ways, it’s pretty disturbing to wake up every day with my feed (and the feed of every single person I know) flooded with these fake Al pictures,” Banerji wrote.

From celebrating 140kg to unwanted online spotlight

Banerji competed in the junior women’s 47 kg category at the championships in Sun City, South Africa. Her deadlift of 140kg earned her a silver medal in the individual competition behind France’s Ines Herbaux who lifted 165kg. The Irishman Blathnaid O’Dwyer also lifted 140 kg.Banerji finished fifth overall in her category after recording a 90 kg squat and a 50 kg bench press for a total of 280 kg. Her deadlift was more than three times her competition bodyweight of 45.70kg, making the lift an instantly notable clip for social media audiences.The lifting video spread far beyond the traditional powerlifting community, with users celebrating the strength and success of the young Indian athlete.But attention quickly became something Banerji never sought.“I’ve always been a private person and if you know me in any capacity/follow my old account, you’ll know I never posted photos on it either! It was just stressful when Instagram suspended my old account (a private account with 300 followers) so I made this new one.”She said she originally wanted to keep the new account private as well, but felt she had no choice if she wanted to know which online identity was really hers.“I didn’t want to post this but I have no choice if I want to talk about my own sport and achievements and stand up for myself without getting my account suspended again!”This decision actually put Banerji in the unusual position of becoming more visible online precisely because she wanted to regain control over how she was portrayed.

“I just want to exist as a girl who likes to deadlift”

For Banerji, the sudden fame is also unsettled with what powerlifting means to her.“The purpose of my sport in my life is just to represent myself in a fun way and I’m grateful to be competing at the level I am. I never wanted to see myself everywhere like this, in fact I really despised all the Al posters that appeared without my consent. At first I wanted to share this success with my close friends and family.”She emphasized that her new account was not created with ambitions to become an influencer or monetize the attention generated by her performance.“I have no goals to profit from this account/and no goals to create content, I just want to start over with this account and figure out which one is mine so Instagram doesn’t take my vote away again!”Instead, she wants people who are genuinely interested in her athletic journey to follow the account she controls and avoid amplifying fake versions of her.“Thanks for reading, it would be really helpful if you all could follow this account if you are interested and direct people looking for my account to this page as I would much rather share real photos of myself and my experience than have you look at these Al edits.”The sudden transition from a private social media user to a public profile understandably made her uncomfortable.“It still worries me that I suddenly have a public account as someone who barely uses social media, but I’d rather take tentative steps to stand up for myself and have some say in the story about me than read different versions every day.”Banerji also made it clear that she is still willing to talk about the World Cup and her experience in South Africa, but asked people to be more sensitive about her content.“If you’re curious to learn more about the worlds and my experiences – I’m happy to share, please let’s do it in a way that’s respectful of my sanity!”

“The Girl Who Likes Deadlifts” is not an online image

The powerlifter’s posts repeatedly came back to one central point: she wants her athletic identity to remain her own.“I really want the opposite of more publicity and I couldn’t care less about follower counts etc. I just want a space where I can exist as a girl who likes to deadlift and not an image that gets ripped apart over and over again which feels so inauthentic.”This difference is at the heart of Banerji’s experience. The 140kg deadlift gave her a moment she could rightly celebrate, but the viral response turned her sporting achievement into a source of unwanted scrutiny.She later acknowledged how much the attention began to affect her ability to enjoy what was to be one of the biggest successes of her young career.“The amount of attention was overwhelming and I let it get over the joy and whimsy that comes with winning big!”Her 140kg lift was not an isolated breakthrough. Banerji’s numbers continued to improve, with a deadlift of 127.5 kg at the 2025 National Championship and 140 kg at the 2026 National Championship, before matching that number on the world stage.Her South African performance therefore represented the next step in the powerhouse’s burgeoning career. Still, the viral nature of the lift presented a different kind of challenge—one she hadn’t trained for and hadn’t asked for.