Anthropic published its 2026 Usage Policy update on October 8, 2026, effective November 12, 2026. Changes consolidate restrictions on deceptive political campaigns and fake-account amplification, sharpen election rules under “Do Not Undermine Democratic Processes” (voter deception, impersonation of officials/candidates, turnout suppression), and codify prohibitions on sustained cruel abuse toward Claude aligned with August conversation-termination behavior. Weapons software, surveillance, and critical-infrastructure misuse remain barred. Anthropic removed a blanket ban on personalized vote/campaign targeting where legitimate civic outreach was blocked; deceptive targeting remains prohibited elsewhere.