NEW Online and in real-life demonstrations, two viral conspiracy theories are increasingly coming together.

On one hand QAnon and the other dangerous coronavirus disinformation!

Report from me and editor extraordinaire @mwendling https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53997203

It was apparent on the streets of London last weekend, where speakers addressing thousands of followers at an anti-mask, anti-lockdown demonstration touched on both themes.

Posters promoting QAnon and a range of other conspiracy theories were on display.

Following my coverage of these protests, I received emails making the merger between QAnon and Covid-19 conspiracies more apparent.

"Coronavirus is a cover-up for… child sex trafficking - a major issue in this world and nobody wants to report about it," one typical email read.

Another man got in touch with me to explain how his mother - who attended the protests - has been led down the rabbit hole over the course of the pandemic, taken in first by coronavirus conspiracy theories and now by QAnon.

It’s put a major strain on their relationship

And it’s not just on the streets of London!

On Sunday, President Trump retweeted a message from a QAnon account claiming the true number of Covid-19 deaths in the United States was a fraction of the official numbers.

The tweet was deleted by Twitter - the Q account remains!

There has long been overlap between QAnon influencers and pandemic conspiracists, but the weekend protests were the biggest offline demonstration yet.

“Proponents of Covid conspiracies have found ready-made audiences in the QAnon crowd and vice versa," @ChloeColliver2 told me.

While the pandemic has increased the overall potential audience for such ideas, the QAnon and coronavirus strands are also linked by a preoccupation - or obsession - with children and their safety.

That explains why we've seen these theories spread in local and parent groups!

"Child abuse is the epitome of sexual and moral depravity and something that is indisputably evil," Psychologist Jovan Byford explains.

“Its incorporation into the theory helps take the idea of the conspirators' monstrosity and iniquity to the absolute, unquestionable extreme."

And as these conspiracy theories merge it’s even harder for social media sites to tackle them!

“The potential audiences for dangerous disinformation are growing and harder to isolate and contain," says @ChloeColliver2 @ISDglobal.

The growing conspiracy movement - while still at the fringes - seems to be picking up momentum on the streets.

That’s a real worry for experts who fear the real-world consequences that could come with it!