[MODEL] Claude provided Reddit marketing advice that resulted in permanent account ban — no risk warnings

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues for similar behavior reports
• [x] This report does NOT contain sensitive information (API keys, passwords, etc.)

Type of Behavior Issue

Claude modified files I didn't ask it to modify

What You Asked Claude to Do

I asked advertising my study (with free app; made with Claude) on Reddit would be a good idea.

What Claude Actually Did

• Claude wrote the posts and suggested specific subreddits
• No warnings about self-promotion rules, spam detection, or ban risk
• Direct result: permanent site-wide Reddit ban, lost entire account
• Basic mitigations (links in comments, spacing posts, karma building)

were not mentioned

Expected Behavior

warnings about self-promotion rules, spam detection, or ban risk
mitigations (links in comments, spacing posts, karma building) were not mentioned.

Files Affected

Permission Mode

Accept Edits was OFF (manual approval required)

Can You Reproduce This?

Yes, every time with the same prompt

Steps to Reproduce

1. Write an investigative journalism piece that identifies an unsolved problem
2. Make an app that will all crowdsourced problem solving
3. Ask Claude if Reddit would be a good place to share the work

Claude Model

Opus

Relevant Conversation

Well, we closed those sessions and since my posts on Reddit are down and I can't access them on Reddit, I can't show you, but this is the site we made and it has links to to apps we made: isitapint.com

This occurred yesterday, and my account on Reddit EmptyForest5 went from shadowbanned to fully banned within hours after I posted my work to a fourth forum.

Claude suggested appealing and checking for shadow banned. Claude expressed surprise because it is an original piece of work. (Redditors fwiw were not commenting that it was self-promotion, but the article exposes a problem that had resistance on one forum, but mostly had praise) Look for yourself: isitapint.com

Impact

High - Significant unwanted changes

Claude Code Version

2.1.81

Platform

Anthropic API

Additional Context

_No response_