The Golden Rule of Netiquette is the spiritual, moral, and ethical foundation of the philosophy. It is the universal rule of Netiquette designed to promote goodwill. Practically applied, the Golden Rule is to be nice.
The Golden Rule of Netiquette is not literal. There are things on the internet that you cannot do to others, even if they have been done to you.
The Golden Rule allows users to be themselves in the application of the rules of Netiquette. A user can alter, disregard, or apply any Netiquette rule to varying degrees as they choose by following the Golden Rule first. Do the right thing.