Anthropic has not confirmed the scale of account bans; Hong Kong, China, users say they received regional-policy ban notices

AT A GLANCE

Multiple Claude users in Hong Kong, China, said their accounts were banned for reasons involving regional restrictions, but the official scale of the bans has not been confirmed.

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Claude Ban wave resurfaces: users in Hong Kong, China, are being hit in a concentrated manner, 3 including long-standing accounts

Beating AI Flash News: Anthropic's Claude has recently again seen complaints of concentrated account bans. The South China Morning Post reported that October 1 multiple users in Hong Kong, China, suddenly received ban notices. They had previously used Claude via virtual private networks, with some having used it continuously for half a year.V2EX Other users said that accounts they had used for 3 years were also suspended.

A key focus of this round of bans is regional restrictions. Anthropic's official list of supported regions does not include mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macao. Emails received by some users explicitly cited “violation of the supported-region policy.” Switching a network exit point to the United States or Singapore using a virtual private network does not mean the requirements are met. Official policy requires users to be physically located in a supported region.

However, some users have also complained of suspected erroneous bans. A paid user claiming to reside in the United States posted on GitHub that the account was banned because of the regional policy. After an appeal, Anthropic instead refused to restore the account on the grounds of “violation of the usage policy,” without specifying the conduct at issue. The user also said the appeal channel had been closed and that contacting other support teams did not result in an effective resolution.

Anthropic has not disclosed the scale of recent account bans or confirmed that it is conducting a new round of concentrated enforcement. When the company October 8 updated its usage policy, it again clarified the scope of application of regional restrictions.

Original link https://m.theblockbeats.info/flash/370920

Key points

The South China Morning Post reported that October 1 multiple users in Hong Kong, China, received Claude ban notices.
Some users had previously used Claude via virtual private networks, with some having used it continuously for half a year.
V2EX Some users said accounts they had used for 3 years were suspended.
Anthropic's official list of supported regions does not include mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macao.
Emails received by some users cited “violation of the supported-region policy.”
A paid user claiming to reside in the United States said the account was banned due to regional policy and, after an appeal, restoration was denied instead on the grounds of “violation of the usage policy.”
Anthropic has not disclosed the scale of recent account bans or confirmed that it is conducting a new round of concentrated enforcement.
When Anthropic October 8 updated its usage policy, it again clarified the scope of application of regional restrictions.

AI-assisted interpretation

The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.

This information states that some Claude users in Hong Kong, China, had their accounts suspended, with the related notices involving the supported-region policy. Using a virtual private network to switch a network exit point does not mean that a user is physically located in a supported region. Another paid user claiming to reside in the United States said the account may have been erroneously banned, but the specific violation was not explained.

Why it matters to readers

This may affect account availability for users in unsupported regions and has raised concerns about enforcement of regional policy and the handling of appeals.

If you use Claude, you should note the official supported-region restrictions; changing a network exit point using a virtual private network does not mean that the actual-location requirement is met.

Risks and unknowns

Anthropic has not confirmed whether it recently conducted concentrated enforcement.
Anthropic has not disclosed the scale of the account bans.
Some information comes from user complaints, forums, and personal posts; it remains unclear whether individual cases are representative of a broader pattern.
It has not been clearly explained whether users who claim to reside in the United States were mistakenly banned or what specific violations they allegedly committed.
The evidence does not confirm that all banned accounts were located in Hong Kong, China.

Anthropic has not confirmed the scale of account bans; Hong Kong, China, users say they received regional-policy ban notices

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