An internet troll who has claimed he was part of a network of Russians ordered by Vladimir Putin to disrupt the 2016 US election has revealed he and his fellow trolls were tasked with watching the Netflix series House of Cards to learn about the American political system.

According to a Yahoo report, a Russian troll known as "Maksim" took to Russian TV station Rain to make the surprising claim.

"At first we were forced to watch House of Cards in English. It was necessary to know all the main problems of the United States of America. Tax problems, the problem of gays, sexual minorities, weapons."

House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey as a ruthless congressman who utilises corruption, blackmail and murder in order to achieve his aspiration of becoming president of the United States.

Maksim, who worked for Russia's Internet Research Agency, claimed that he was recruited in an attempt to hijack the US election and plant anti-Hillary Clinton propaganda in the comments sections of leading American newspapers including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

"We had a goal to set up the Americans against their own government," he said. "To cause unrest, cause discontent [and] lower [President] Obama's rating. The main message is: Are not you, my American brothers, tired of the Clintons? How many have they already been?"