Hundreds of Russian and Chinese state propaganda accounts are thriving on Twitter after Elon Musk wiped out the team that fought these networks.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

The unit worked to combat "information operations", coordinated campaigns by countries such as Russia, China, and Iran, made to influence public opinion and disrupt democracy.

But experts and former employees say the majority of these specialists resigned or were laid off, leaving the platform vulnerable to foreign manipulation. The BBC has spoken to several of them. They asked for anonymity, citing non-disclosure agreements and threats they received online.

"The whole human layer has been wiped out. All Twitter has left are automated detections systems," a former senior employee said.

Musk claimed there was "less misinformation [on Twitter] rather than more" under his tenure. He did not comment on active state troll farms on the platform nor the team that used to fight them.

We approached Twitter for comment but received no response other than a poo emoji - the standard auto-reply from the company to any press enquiry.