The White House has denied claims the US foreign aid organisation set up a social media network in Cuba to cause political unrest.

ZunZuneo - a so-called Cuban Twitter - had 40,000 subscribers across the country, which has no mobile data system and tight controls on the internet.

The project reportedly lasted from 2009 to 2012, when the grant money ran out.

The Associated Press news agency said it had obtained documents showing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the project and concealed its links through a series of shell companies and a bank account in the Cayman Islands.

The report said the project was intended to encourage "flash mobs".

The White House has denied the program was run in an attempt to overthrow the government in Havana.

"This was not an intelligence program," spokesman Jay Carney said.

"This was an effort to promote the flow of free information, to promote the engagement of citizens, especially in countries that are non-permissive."

In a statement, USAID said its work was consistent with US law.

"USAID is proud of its work in Cuba to provide basic humanitarian assistance, promote human rights and universal freedoms, and to help information flow more freely to the Cuban people," the statement said.

"It is also no secret that in hostile environments, governments take steps to protect the partners we are working with on the ground.

"The purpose of the ZunZuneo project was to create a platform for Cubans to speak freely among themselves."