Claude Account Ban New Rules Effective November 12: Americans in China Also Restricted, Chinese Companies Overseas Also Restricted

Beating AI News Flash: Anthropic's new "Supported Regions Policy" will take effect on November 12. The new document clarifies three categories of prohibited Claude usage, covering individuals, enterprises, and users accessing the model through overseas companies and third-party cloud platforms.

First, as long as a person is located in an unsupported region, they cannot use Claude. Even Americans using Claude during a business trip to mainland China would likewise violate the policy.

Second, as long as a company is registered or headquartered in an unsupported region such as mainland China, its employees cannot use Claude to work for that company even if they are physically in the United States.

Third, even if a company is registered in the United States, as long as it is directly or indirectly controlled by individuals or entities in unsupported regions, employees are likewise restricted—a stake of more than 50% is not required to trigger this.

The policy covers Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cowork, the official API, as well as Claude models provided through cloud platforms and authorized resellers. Calling the model through legitimate cloud platforms such as AWS Bedrock does not mean the regional usage restrictions can be bypassed.

However, this is not a sudden comprehensive ban launched on November 12. Anthropic had already prohibited overseas companies controlled by enterprises in China and other unsupported regions from using Claude as early as September 2025. This time, the main change is to state more clearly an individual's location, a company's place of registration, and control relationships.

Anthropic's account bans began long ago. The company disclosed that in the first half of 2026 it banned a total of 11.4 million accounts and received 398,000 appeals, of which 42,000 successfully overturned the original decisions. These figures cover various types of violations and are not all related to regional restrictions.

Anthropic previously also disclosed that its systems identify risk signals such as unauthorized resale of Claude from unsupported regions and require relevant users to verify their identity; failure to verify results in an account ban. After November 12, the rules on regional and corporate affiliation will have clearer formal text for enforcement.